-tenants held
By Gaulbert Sutherland
The decomposing body of a 54-year-old man, his head severed, was found buried in a shallow grave in his Patentia, West Bank Demerara backyard yesterday and police have detained a couple who were the dead man’s tenants.
Dead is Ramesh Singh called ‘Chukuroo’ of Lot 93 Fourth Street, Patentia Housing Scheme, West Bank Demerara. His son, Mahesh Singh discovered the body at about midday yesterday after he went to check on his father, following reports by neighbours that the man had not been seen around anymore.
The male tenant after seeing Mahesh digging at the spot reportedly attempted to flee but was caught after being pursued. The decomposing body, the head severed and one of the arms already falling off, was pulled out of the grave shortly after 5 pm yesterday. The man’s clothes were also buried with him.
Shocked neighbours told Stabroek News that they had last seen Singh around Phagwah but in the following weeks he was not seen anymore. This was related to his relatives and Mahesh, who lives at Mahaica, visited the home last Sunday to check but his father was not there. He told reporters that he had last seen his father some months back and he was okay.
However, after receiving reports that his father was “missing”, he visited the home last Sunday and said that he was told by the tenants that they had paid his father $40 000 in rent, and Singh had gone to Suriname. Mahesh said that documents belonging to his father and clothes were also missing and he didn’t believe the couple’s story. A relative said that suspicions were further heightened after the man’s pension book was discovered as Singh never went anywhere without it.
Mahesh returned to the home yesterday and was told by neighbours that they had seen the male tenant digging a hole, sometime ago supposedly for a new toilet. Mahesh said that he went to the area pointed out and along with another man they began to dig and saw a portion of a body. He said that the male tenant had been observing them as they dug and sometime during that action left. Mahesh related that he pursued the man and caught up with him some distance away. He said that the man had a cutlass and “he tek out the cutlass on me”. However, he was subdued and the police were notified and came and took him and his wife into custody.
Following the discovery, a number of shocked residents gathered in the immediate area, discussing the event, prevented from going closer to the home by police tape. Several persons climbed on a mango tree to get a closer glimpse of the yard and many persons exclaimed that nothing like this had ever happened in their area before.
Police ranks from the West Demerara division were present in numbers but any further action in relation to the body was delayed as they awaited investigators from Georgetown. It was a long wait due to the prolonged closure of the Demerara Harbour Bridge but when the two investigators finally turned up after 4 pm, they went to work immediately taking photographs and measurements.
The grave was in the south-eastern portion of the yard in the shade of some banana and sugar-cane plants in the overgrown garden. After taking photographs both in the yard and inside the home and measurements, the task of uncovering the body was started. As the dig continued a stench permeated the air and what appeared to be clothing were pulled out of the grave before the decomposing, still clothed corpse was extracted minus the head and an arm.
The head was under the body and after that and the arm were pulled out; the body was placed in a metal casket-like container and taken away.
Meantime, neighbours had recalled that the tenants, a couple had moved into the home shortly before Singh was no longer seen around the place. He had lived alone previously. They said that Singh usually sold produce from his garden and “was always about the place”.
“He was a strong man”, one neighbour said stating that they never expected that he would die this way. They said that he sometimes drank and had friends over to the home but never harmed anyone. Neighbours could not recall hearing a fight or any noise to suggest that such a gruesome act had taken place. They said that last Tuesday, the male tenant had a celebration for his wife’s birthday.
Singh leaves to mourn his three children, two of whom are in Venezuela and other relatives. Up to last evening several persons were at the Wales Police Station giving statements.
