“I can’t forgive him,” the mother of three-year-old Rani Lall, who died one week after being hit by a Guyana Prison Service (GPS) vehicle, lamented on Tuesday.
Deokie Sewnarine says she wants justice for her daughter’s death and is demanding that the officer driving the GPS vehicle at the time of the accident be charged. After her daughter’s demise, Sewnarine said, the driver contacted her via telephone “and said he was sorry for what happened”.
But “no I can’t accept his apology,” Sewnarine said before repeating, “I can’t forgive him. I have to live with this every day… My pain is something that will never go away and I want justice for my daughter’s death. I want to see this man in court.”
Police, according to the woman, were at her house on Tuesday and took statements from her and her older daughter, Mariah Paul. Paul witnessed the accident and is to revisit the scene with police. Sewnarine’s reputed husband, Suresh Lall, will have to give a statement to police some time today as well.
As Lall’s family struggles to deal with her death they have received no indication from police as to whether the driver of the GPS vehicle will be charged.
Sewnarine, who is in an advanced stage of pregnancy and being urged by her doctor to “take it easy”, said that not only has the accident robbed her of a daughter it had also had a great psychological effect on the older one.
“Rani’s funeral was last Tuesday and it was a terrible time for all of us but more so for my 11-year-old Mariah,” Sewnarine explained. “She has spoken to us about it just to say what happened but she cries every day. Sometimes I find her curled up with Rani’s photo crying and I don’t know how to comfort her… We’re all at a loss.”
Paul had said they were on the pedestrian crossing on the southern side of the highway and were about to cross to a relative’s house on the northern side of the road. According to her, a vehicle proceeding east along the highway stopped and signalled them to cross. It was while crossing the road; the girls were struck by the driver of the GPS vehicle, which had licence plate number PLL 6005.
The driver was reportedly intoxicated at the time of the accident. He was taken into police custody following the accident but has since been released.
Lall was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital that night and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in an unconscious state. The girl had suffered severe head injuries and remained in a critical and unconscious condition until her demise last Monday. The accident occurred on November 3.