A man was stabbed to death at Puruni Landing, Mazaruni yesterday during an attack that his family says stemmed from an old misunderstanding.
Rawle Peters, called ‘Papaw’ and ‘Dumb Boy,’ 23, of Lot 21 North Haslington, East Coast Demerara, succumbed on the Puruni trail even as efforts were being made to transport him to the Bartica Hospital. The suspect, up to press time last evening, had not been held by police but Stabroek News understands that he was spotted on the Landing.
Police said last evening that ranks in E&F Division (Linden and interior locations) were investigating the attack, which occurred around 06:00 hours. According to police, Peters sustained a stab wound to the left side of his chest. Relatives who viewed his remains at the Lyken’s Funeral Home yesterday afternoon said that there was a huge gash to his left side and his guts were protruding. Relatives said Peters’ size would have made it impossible for one person to successfully attack him and they opined that more than one person carried out the attack.
At his home, shocked relatives gathered to discuss the tragedy and reminisce on the good times they had with him. His grandmother, Gladis Peters recalled that sometime after 09:00 hrs, one of his former employers contacted her and said that “Papaw get chop up.” She said that the woman informed her that she had tied the wound to stop the bleeding and that he was being transported to Bartica in a cruiser to get medical attention. Around 11:30 hrs, the woman called again to say that Peters had died at the toll gate. Stabroek News has since learnt that the toll gate is on the Puruni trail and it separates that area from Itaballi.
Gladis added that the woman also told her Peters was involved in a fight but did not give details.
The elderly woman recalled that some time back her grandson told her that he was involved in a fight and the other party had said “Ah gon come back fuh yo.” She, along with other relatives, suspects that it was the same person who was involved in the murder.
Meanwhile, a teary-eyed Pamela Lewis said her son’s employer contacted her and informed her that the suspect was sitting on the landing but police later told her that no one had been held.
According to Lewis, the employer also informed her that a chopper was used to slice her son’s stomach open.
Lewis recalled relatives telling her that Rawle “get chop up” but no one knew how to tell her that he was dead. At one point, some of her relatives said that they were going to the hospital to see him but Gladis instructed them to tell her the truth before delivering the tragic news herself.
Lewis said that they all travelled to the parlour and she was shocked when she saw what remained of her son.
A second chance
Fighting back tears, Lewis said that less than a month ago her son almost drowned. She explained that late one night he was transporting rations when the boat he was in started to take in water. The woman said that Peters managed to toss some of the goods on the river bank before saving himself.
Lewis recalled that after hearing of the incident, she begged God to give her son a second chance at life because he never hurt anyone. She said that later he came home and assured her that he was alright. Relatives told Stabroek News that they begged Peters, who was described as “stubborn and own way,” not to return to the interior. “He like wuk in de bush. He just like he father; love the bush,” Lewis told this newspaper.
Meanwhile, his father Carlton Linton Cato yesterday appealed for justice. “The person who did this, I want him to be brought to justice. I was shocked with what I saw to be honest,” he said. The man noted that there is no police presence in the area where the incident occurred and police would have to travel from Bartica to investigate. Cato called for regular patrols in the area.
For this year, there have been 16 murders in the E&F Division, with several occurring in the Mazaruni/Cuyuni area within the last two to three weeks.
Police Commissioner Henry Greene last week said that there have been 97 murders this year in comparison with 77 last year and of this figure there were 32 disorderly murders reported. Fourteen of these murders, he said, occurred in the interior (E&F Division). He had gone on to explain that most of the murders were fuelled by people drinking or arguing and then stabbing or beating each other.
