–husband remanded on murder charge
The police yesterday took possession of Bridgette Gangadin’s body resulting in the planned cremation being postponed yet again.
They returned it several hours later telling her relatives to bury her in the event a further examination is required. However, the cremation has again been set for today.
And as the saga continued to unfold, her husband Dwarka Gangadin appeared at the Cove and John Magistrate’s Court charged with her murder and was remanded to prison until June 4.
According to reports, police turned up at the Jerrick’s Funeral Home at Paradise, East Coast Demerara and took possession of the body. It was then transported to Lyken’s Funeral Home in the city where it spent about three hours before being returned to the original storage facility.
An angry Heeralall Sookdeo, Bridgette’s uncle, explained outside the court that he and Dwarka’s father had gone to the parlour in keeping with a High Court order when a policeman informed them that no cremation could take place because a third post-mortem examination was to be performed.
The man said that he told the policeman that there was an order for the cremation to take place before the end of the day but the policeman said he was unaware of that.
Sookdeo, who was surrounded by other relatives who also expressed displeasure with the recent development, said he will not stop the police from doing their work.
“All I want is for them to tell me when they are doing it so that I can fly in my doctor from Trinidad so that he could see what is going on. The two doctors could thrash it out right in there,” he told members of the media.
He said relatives were so frustrated that Bridgette could not be cremated because they just wanted closure.
When contacted on the matter Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said the force has objected to the cremation in the event that there is a request for a further examination of the body. He said police met the family yesterday and it was agreed that there will be a burial.
Sookdeo subsequently told this newspaper, that a sergeant of police contacted him and said “that we got to bury but how we gon bury, no hole ent dig, no tomb ain’t build and I don’t have no money.” He added that they were not prepared for a burial but rather a cremation.
Both families during a meeting late yesterday afternoon with their respective lawyers – Senior Counsel Bernard De Santos for the Gangadins and Basil Williams for Bridgette’s relatives – agreed that the woman will be cremated today.
Sookdeo will be responsible for uplifting a letter of permission from the Ministry of Health to conduct the cremation at the Good Hope Cremation site.
Following the meeting, De Santos said the police, “unlawfully hijacked the body from the funeral parlour without documentation”. He told the media that he was told by an official there, that the police turned up and said that they will be transporting the body to Lyken’s.
De Santos said that realizing that the removal was “unlawful and without any justification”, police returned the body to Jerrick’s. He said that during the meeting the family reiterated their desire to cremate.
The senior counsel said that yesterday morning Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack assured him that she had advised the Commissioner of Police to have his client escorted to Jerrick’s and then to his home for a religious service in keeping with the court order.
He said that the issue now, is the presence of his client at the cremation today since he was probably already at the Georgetown Prison. He urged the police to do “the humane thing” and allow his client to attend the funeral to take part in the religious rituals.
He later added that he had heard about the police wanting a burial but no one had officially told him anything
Meanwhile, Williams pointed out that permission from the Health Ministry has to be obtained in time for the cremation. He said that both families are of the view that a third PME is not required.
Court hearing
Neatly dressed in a white shirt, black pants and white boots, Dwarka Gangadin sat in the court dock yesterday, with an expressionless look on his face. When the matter was called, he stared straight ahead as all eyes in the packed court room focused on him.
Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus in reading the particulars of the charge told the accused that on May 2 at Vigilance Public Road, he allegedly murdered Bridgette. Dwarka was not required to plead to the capital offence.
The magistrate then asked De Santos for the particulars of his client and when he indicated that he was not in possession of that information, she adjourned the matter for a few minutes.
When the matter was recalled the senior counsel said his client who is 34 years old lives at Lot 3 ‘E’ Lusignan, East Coast Demerara. He is the father of four and a furniture manufacturer, he added.
Prosecutor Lloyd Thomas is addressing the court asked that the case be transferred to Vigilance and indicated that he had to resend the file to the DPP “to clear up some points”.
After the adjourned date was announced, De Santos informed the court about the new development surrounding the disposal of the woman’s remains. He explained that an order made regarding the disposal of the body and the ceremony, was served on the police at the Vigilance. He said that prior to the court hearing, he was advised by the DPP that since Tuesday she had advised the police to escort his client to the funeral parlour so that the High Court order can be complied with.
He stressed that the order also comprised certain matters pertaining to the Hindu tradition, which include the participation of the widower – in this case his client.
De Santos submitted that there now seems to be some confusion as it relates to the cremation arrangements and his client’s participation. “It is a serious thing to breach a court order,” he said, adding that he was saying all of this to the court to avoid embarrassment to the relatives, his client and the police if any action is to be taken to disobey that order.
Thomas, in response, said he had no High Court Order in his possession. He said he spoke to the investigating rank who advised that the order had been sent to the Commissioner of Police through the DPP but he not received it.
Thomas then said that the police will comply with it once the instruction is given.
The mangled remains of the 29-year-old woman were discovered on the Vigilance Public Road, a short distance from the entrance of the police station, around 2.25 am two Sundays ago with “suspected marks of violence.” Police had initially said that they were treating the woman’s death as a murder.
According to the relatives, the couple had left their Lusignan home the night before and travelled to Enterprise where they were expected to go shrimp-catching with some friends. However, the trip was aborted and the couple left and it was believed that they were heading home. About an hour later the husband returned to the Enterprise home without his wife and when questioned about her he did not answer.
The police were contacted and he was arrested. Dwarka had reportedly told investigators that his wife jumped out of the truck and he accidentally ran over her head.
Government pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh conducted an autopsy the following day concluding that it was crushing injuries to the head caused by a wheel and a fractured skull that had caused her death.
However, her relatives were adamant that her husband had killed her, and requested that an independent PME be done. This was later done by a Trinidadian pathologist who said he found evidence of strangulation.
After spending three days in police custody, Dwarka was released on substantial station bail, but less than 24 hours later he appeared in court charged with driving a motor vehicle on the road while his blood alcohol level exceeded the prescribed amount.
Dwarka who is also a national grass-racing champion denied the charge and was released on $10,000 bail. That case will be called again on June 25.
