Relatives of 31-year-old Liloutie ‘Pinky’ Seeram are offering a reward of $1M for information leading to the arrest of her husband, Rooplall ‘Kelly’ Boodhoo who is accused of murdering her on March 27.
Liloutie’s brother, Mahendra Seeram, 30, told Stabroek News that he and other relatives living in New York “cannot rest knowing that the killer is out there and the police cannot find him. That’s why we have decided to come together and offer the reward.”
Boodhoo, 35, launched the attack on Seeram and her mother, Latta Inderdeo around 1.30 am on March 27, following an argument.
Seeram sustained wounds to the back of her head and hands while three fingers on her left hand were severed. She was pronounced dead on arrival at the New Amsterdam Hospital.
Her mother who went to her rescue suffered chops to her right shoulder and left palm and was admitted a patient at the hospital for almost one week.
During last week Boodhoo was charged in his absence with Liloutie’s murder following advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions and a warrant has since been issued for his arrest.
Police sources had also told this newspaper that they have been checking at different locations after receiving reports about where he may be hiding. So far they have come up empty-handed but have vowed, “we will get him.”
Mahendra said the man “should be locked up; he does not deserve to be out in society. He cannot kill and be free… if that is what they [relatives] want; it cannot happen.”
He learnt that persons close to the man are hiding him “but there is a God. Why they hiding him now when they could have advised him how to live with his wife? Instead of killing her he should have left her.”
Speaking to this newspaper via telephone, the emotional Mahendra said he loved his sister and misses her “so much…I cannot call her anymore on Saturday’s….”
He said too that his “heart is so broken… all I have now is her voicemail in my cell phone. I pray that God keep me and give me strength to continue to deal with her death…. I can never forget what he did to my sister…”
He did everything he could to make her happy but lamented that, “She could have told me she did not want to stay with him and things would have been different.”
He said that for 14 years Boodhoo abused his sister.
Mahendra said he supported his sister, Boodhoo and their two children: Nerissa, 13 and Nicholas, 10 by sending them money and other personal items. He even wondered “what else he wanted me to do…?”
He recalled that he had sent a pair of shoes for Boodhoo and a few years ago “when he was drunk he used the same shoes to beat my sister.”
After that Mahendra had stopped talking to the man but continued to send money for his sister anyhow. He said he only started to speak to Boodhoo recently when he heard he started going to church with Liloutie and the children.
He said he last spoke to his brother-in-law the first week in March. “I told him that I wouldn’t be coming to Guyana for the World Cup Cricket but would be sending the money for him and Pinky to go.”
He also promised Boodhoo that he would have spent the Christmas holidays in Guyana as he had not done so in 10 years. Instead, he said he had to come for his sister’s funeral two weeks later.
He reminisced that he and his sister shared a close relationship from childhood, pointing out that they were born just one year apart.
“I enjoyed the days with my sister… those were fun days. We attended Berbice High School together and I was one class behind her. We became even closer when she repeated fourth form and I caught up with her.”
Latta’s sister, Indira Bhalkham, in an email to this newspaper said that she, Mahendra and other relatives “cry every day for ‘Pinky’ and my sister. No one deserves what happened to them.”
She said too: “we have to live with this for the rest of our lives. We all go to bed with Pinky on our minds and wake up thinking about her.
“It is hard for us to function with our daily lives much-less my sister who witnessed her only daughter in blood with chops.”
Therapy
Latta’s condition has been improving; her wounds have been healing and she no longer experiences so much pain. However she is unable to use her fingers and was expected to start physiotherapy for her fingers on Friday.
When this newspaper contacted her on Thursday she was preparing to go to the hospital for a check-up.
She was still hurting emotionally but believes strongly that “the Lord would give me justice. God is giving me the faith…”
A staunch Christian, she had told Stabroek News “If it wasn’t for Jesus I would have been a dead woman.” She is still haunted by the horrible memories of the ordeal but believed that prayers would heal everything.
Inderdeo had been staying with her daughter and son-in-law and their children for about one year. At the time of the chopping the children were spending the night at the home of their grandfather, Ramnarine Seeram in nearby Edinburgh Village.
In tears, Seeram told SN he is tormented over what the man did to his “only daughter and it hurt more to know that he is still at large. I still want justice to prevail. “
He said after the attack, his grandchildren, Nerissa and Nicholas who are in his care are still traumatized by what happened to their mother and grandmother and are afraid to be alone especially at nights.
A former health worker who now works as a sluice attendant, Seeram said he was giving his grandchildren the “best care.”
He said every day he would prepare different meals for them. He would also pack their lunch bags and see them off to school before going to work.
Seeram also mentioned that Boodhoo’s mother and his father, Deonaine Boodhoo came to Guyana after learning what their son had done.
He said Deonarine apologised to him for what his son has done and said “he feels bad about the whole incident.” The man also denied any knowledge about his son’s whereabouts.