Four months after the killing of Sheema Mangar, her parents say that police have made no “meaningful progress” and they are anxiously awaiting the results of DNA tests on a piece of fabric found underneath a suspect’s car.
But while Radica Takoor and Lalbachan Mangar are “keeping their fingers crossed,” they say the inaction of the police in the case has eroded their hope and given rise to doubts that justice would be served. Now, they say they fear that the case may be destined for “the cold case cabinet” and they are appealing to authorities to avoid such an outcome.
Mangar, 20, was run over and dragged under the car of the robber who stole her mobile phone on the evening of September 15, 2010. The bank employee, who had chased after the robber, was dragged from the Bedford Methodist Church at Camp Street and North Road to the intersection of Camp and Church streets. She died early the next morning at the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital from the many injuries she sustained.
A week after her death, police had detained a man and his car. The man was subsequently released but the police said they found pieces of fabric beneath the car possibly matching Mangar’s work uniform. The fabric was subsequently sent overseas for testing.
In a letter to Stabroek News, the young woman’s parents said they are “waiting anxiously” for the results of tests, while noting that police had promised that the findings would be made available in this month.
According to the Crime Chief, Seelall Persaud, the police are still awaiting the analysis that was sent overseas.
While the couple noted the devastation of the tragedy, they added that “the apparent slothful pace and casual manner of the police approach to the investigation” has not helped the situation. “At first we were quite hopeful that the police would be able to produce quick results given some early ground covered but their subsequent inaction has only served to erode that hope and gave rise to doubts and questions in our minds,” they said.
According to the couple, after more than six weeks into the investigation their daily inquiries with police were always met with “bland refrains” indicating that the investigations were continuing and that the police were working hard on the case. They added that around the same time they were told that the piece of fabric recovered from one suspect’s vehicle, which may have been critical to solving the case, was still with the police and not dispatched overseas in a timely manner to facilitate forensic testing. They explained that it was only after their scheduled meeting with Police Commissioner Henry Greene that they were told that the fabric was sent to Barbados. Before, they noted, they were told it had been sent to Trinidad.
Further, the young woman’s parents say the police keep asking for more samples of Sheema’s work clothes, even though one was sent to them earlier and was still lying at another station. The whereabouts of the clothing that Sheema wore on the day of the attack, they added, is still anybody’s guess. “This uniform should have been the most appropriate attire for the purpose of the investigation,” they emphasised.
The parents also have lingering questions about hair samples and whether it too should be sent for analysis overseas. “Clearly the forgoing is quite telltale and lends to a sense of foreboding that this case may be destined for the cold case cabinet—a much dreaded scenario from our perspective,” the letter stated.
Mangar’s parents expressed hope that their daughter’s killer is brought to justice. “Sheema’s soul cries out for justice and will not rest until it is achieved. …We as her parents will not give up,” they said.
