(Trinidad Express) Police are investigating the discovery of two bodies bearing gunshot wounds in the Hindustan, New Grant, community yesterday morning and Friday night and have taken a relative of one of the victims into custody for questioning.
The first body, which was found lying on the side of Nagjee Road by a passerby on Friday around 8 p.m., was identified as 23-year-old Anderson Badal of Nagjee Road.
The second body was found yesterday morning in some bushes, at Backpond off Nagjee Road a short distance away from Badal’s corpse, and was identified as 33-year-old Sharmaine Francois also from the quiet community.
Glenda Aaron, Francois’ mother, told the Sunday Express the family became concerned about her daughter after they learned a body was found at the side of the road.
The mother of an 11-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy left home on Friday around 3 p.m. for work in Hindustan where she did domestic work.
“We were sitting here when we heard somebody come and say they find a dead body on the road because we know she walks the road sometimes to come home from work. So her husband called her phone to tell her to wait till her bossman come to drop her home because of what happen. But he didn’t get any answer. So we tell him call the boss. When he called him, the bossman say she never came to work.”
Aaron said the family went immediately to the police and told them that Francois was missing but were told that they should call and see if she was visiting relatives.
“But we tell them she doesn’t go by any family. From work is home and from that time we start to look for her. This morning about 6.30 they found her dead, with a bullet wound to her left eye, on the same road she walks to go to work.”
Francois’ mother described her as a hardworking and quiet person who kept to herself.
“She never meddled with anyone. She never went anywhere. It was always from work to home, to cook for her children and that was her life. I was her mother and she hardly used to come by me and we lived right next door.”
Francois’ uncle, Bobby Ramdath, who found her body, described her as a decent girl whose children and family came first.
“We searched for her all night last night because the police told us to organise our own search party because they could do nothing until after 24 hours. The whole village came out and about 24 of us went into the bushes looking for her with flashlights.
“Her husband’s brother and I found her with a story book and her umbrella next to her.”
With tears in his eyes Francois’ brother, Tony Francois, said his sister didn’t deserve to die that way because she was an innocent woman.
Further down Nagjee Road, Badal’s mother, Jennifer Ali, said she has lived in the community all her life and was confused over her son’s death. “I don’t know what happened but the police are investigating,” she said.
Badal’s great aunt Joyce Cooper said:
“He was a very quiet boy, always by me, always willing to help out. He worked outside when he get little construction work but to say he go here or go there, he stayed more in the community. He was not a violent person,” she said.
