The cause of death of businessman Farouk Kalamadeen was given by a pathologist as possible decapitation and a late police decision to perform the post–mortem examination disrupted yesterday’s planned funeral.
It was only yesterday morning that relatives were advised by the police that fingerprints had to be taken from the body prior to the autopsy.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that following some amount of bewilderment by the relatives with the police resulting in several trips to the hospital mortuary by the Lyken’s Funeral Parlour’s hearse, the post-mortem was finally completed sometime after 4 pm. Late yesterday, Police Public Relations Officer Ivelaw Whittaker told Stabroek News that the post-mortem examination revealed that Kalamadeen died from “possible decapitation.”
The Kalamadeens had planned the burial according to Muslim rites and had hoped that the post-mortem examination would have been early yesterday morning but at around 12:30 pm the family had to postpone plans. Relatives told Stabroek News last evening that they were meeting with their moulvi to look at another possible date for the funeral and tomorrow seemed more likely.
This newspaper was informed that the police were undecided about conducting the examination yesterday and then finally made a decision following some amount of confusion and negotiations with the family’s attorney. It is not clear what caused the police’s hesitancy.
The man’s sister-in-law, Bibi Shadick told Stabroek News yesterday that the man’s body was without a scratch and said that relatives were mostly interested in having the examination completed and did not think of asking the police about the cause of death.
Kalamadeen’s family still remains hopeful that his head would be found. On Thursday morning the man’s sons and others had returned to Cowan Street, Kingston where his body was found early Wednesday morning to look for his head. Kalamadeen disappeared on April 2.
There has been no word from the police on any significant breakthrough in their probe although they questioned four men following the discovery. Kalamadeen was however alive for many weeks following his abduction.
From the time he was abducted to the day his body was found, the drama surrounding Kalamadeen generated a lot of interest both locally and in the Guyana diaspora.
(Heppilena Ferguson)
