The body of a spray painter was fished out of a drain in front of his home at Palmyra, East Canje, Berbice yesterday afternoon.
Reports are that Azad Khan, 39, was under the influence of alcohol when he accidently slipped into the shallow drain. His body, which was found face down, was clad only in a pair of khaki shorts.
His sister, Nesha Khan, a lawyer’s clerk, told Stabroek News that her brother who lived with her and her two children, left home in the morning to do a “spray job.” She and the children left for work and school afterwards and she could not say what time the incident occurred. The man was found around 3:30pm yesterday.
Ten minutes after Nesha got in from work, she heard her son, Ameer Khan, 17, shouting frantically for her to “come and see wah going on in the drain.” Nesha said she immediately contacted the police, who arrived promptly.
Ameer told this newspaper that he made the discovery when he returned home from school. He said Azad’s head appeared to be “buried in the mud.” After informing his mother, he stripped off his uniform down to his shorts and vest and went into the drain to “rescue” his uncle. He did not know that the man was already dead but “after I pulled him out I realised that he did not have any pulse.”
When this newspaper arrived at the scene around 4 pm, the body was lying at the side of the drain and a small crowd that gathered. Police ranks were also there conducting investigations.
A woman, Helen Ramoutar, 52, told this newspaper that Azad and Nesha’s parents died when they were young and that she took care of them. In tears, she said she was very sad at what happened to Azad. She described him as a good person and said his only bad habit was that he was a “heavy drinker.”
