A 17-year-old boy of Bush Lot, West Berbice collapsed and died around 4 pm yesterday after his throat was slashed during an argument, and his attacker was taken into custody at the Fort Wellington Station.
Eyewitnesses told this newspaper that Darshanan Ramanan was seen talking to the attacker before an argument ensued.
They claimed that he asked Ramanan, “You believe me can’t chop you?” He then dealt him a single chop to his neck and calmly walked away. The eyewitnesses said too that Ramanan was seen running frantically up and down the street a few times before collapsing to the ground, bleeding profusely.
Reports are that the attacker went to his house in another section of the village and told a neighbour proudly, “Me just chop a man and kill he.” The neighbour did not believe him as he would usually “make those kinda jokes.”
A resident telephoned the police who arrived promptly at the scene. They conducted a search for the assailant and found him at his house.
The teen’s distraught mother, Celina Ramanan told Stabroek News that when the police arrived at the scene her son was still breathing and she begged them to take him to the hospital. In tears, she said one of the officers told her that an ambulance would arrive shortly to take him.
She waited in vain but no ambulance arrived. However another officer said they received a call about a “murder” and felt that the man was already dead.
When this newspaper arrived at the scene a large crowd had gathered to get a glimpse of the bloodied body that was lying at the corner of the street.
The lad’s mother and other relatives were wailing uncontrollably, lamenting the fact that the police did not take the teen to the hospital and even threatened to shoot one of the relatives for trying to “speak fuh we rights.”
The mother kept shouting, “Ow whey the ambulance deh; me son na dead. How dem know me son dead? Tek he to de hospital na.”
Celina said her son left home just before 4 pm on a bicycle and she was shocked when a child arrived with the news that the attacker “buss me son throat and kill he.”
She said along with other relatives she hurried to the scene and saw her son, the second of five siblings, covered in blood. His brother, 18-year-old Dianand told this newspaper that his brother knew the killer and as far as he knew they had never had a problem.
“Me buddy neva had a problem with anybody,” he shouted. “Why dem had to do this to me buddy?”
Celina alleged that the police “na had time wid me son now but as soon as dem get report that he break anybody house dey would come and lock he up.”
She swore that her son was never involved in any robbery, claiming that residents would make false reports about him.
She said it was only yesterday she went to church and prayed for him that he would not get in trouble with anyone, “and look wah happen to he now…”