-relatives suspect foul play
The skeletal remains of a man missing since New Year’s Day were discovered yesterday in the bushy backdam of New Hope, East Bank Demerara and his relatives believe he was the victim of foul play.
Devanand Singh, 48, called ‘Smallie’ and ‘Romeo,’ of Parfait Harmonie, West Bank Demerara was positively identified by his teeth and remaining toe nails. When the body was discovered in thick bushes, it was clad in black underwear.
From all accounts, the man recently began displaying signs of a nervous breakdown and he was having recurring domestic problems with his common-law wife, who had taken a lover. Singh lived with the woman and her lover but would stay with family at Cummings Street, Alberttown and at New Hope, whenever there were domestic squabbles. On New Year’s Day he had gone to his stepdaughter’s residence at New Hope, along with his stepson and his wife’s lover.
Relatives at the Alberttown address told Stabroek News that from there “things went fishy.” One of the man’s three sons from a previous marriage, Randy Singh, recounted that around 11 am yesterday he received a call from his stepmother’s boyfriend, informing him of the discovery. The man said he was told that there was a body in the backdam and when they checked they found a skeleton.
Singh said he went to the area, where he met his stepbrother, stepsister and the man who alerted them. The man said that on New Year’s Day, while engaged in a conversation Devanand Singh just “run and jump over de fence.”
But Singh was adamant that this was untrue, since, according to him, the fence is about six feet high. He recalled that on that day, they received a call informing them that “[Devanand] get away and they weren’t finding him.” A report was later made to the Grove Police Station but it is unclear if anything was done.
According to Singh, his father began having a nervous breakdown last December and there were plans to take him for treatment in January. The young man said that when he arrived in the area, about an hour after receiving the call, the police were there and together they embarked on a 45 minutes walk to the backdam. According to him, the spot were the body was found was in line with his stepsister’s house. He had previously stayed at the home, so he was familiar with the area. He said he was able to identify his father’s body from the top and bottom teeth that were missing and the downward growth of his toe nails.
Suspicious
Relatives said that the circumstances of the man’s death were suspicious and questioned why no effort was made to find him after he jumped over the fence. Singh said he learned that a hunter had told residents in the New Hope area about three weeks ago that a man was lying in the backdam, begging for food and water. However, from all indications, the stepdaughter only received this information yesterday.
A relative told Stabroek News, “this thing look like foul play ‘cause he is not a stupid guy. He knows those areas.”
Singh said his father had been a victim of emotional and physical abuse at the hand of his common-law wife. He said many reports were lodged at the Alberttown Police Station. He explained that early last year, they took him in at the Alberttown address “but like every time he sees this woman like he does go wild.” He would stay at the house on and off, he added.
Later he expressed shock that the woman and her boyfriend had not been picked up by police for questioning and he called them to investigate every aspect of the case, saying there is more going on that meets the eye.
Singh told this newspaper that he and his stepbrother had fetched his father’s remains out of the area in two sheets.
The remains are at the Lyken’s funeral home awaiting a post-mortem examination tomorrow.
Police investigations are continuing.
