A man who went missing on Tuesday morning was yesterday pulled out of a canal near Agriculture Road, in Triumph after passing schoolchildren noticed his floating, partially submerged body.
The body was subsequently identified as that of 44-year-old Rajesh Balkaran of 20 Dr. Miller Street, Triumph. The man’s relatives said that they had been looking for him since Tuesday.
Sancharrie, also known as `Baybo’, the man’s aunt, said that she was the man’s caretaker and had been doing so ever since his parents and grandparents passed away some time ago.
“He does suffer from fits so me does gah fuh look he since he mudda and he grandmother dead,” said Sancharrie.
She said that she would usually ensure that Balkaran used his medication which made the symptoms of his condition less severe.
The woman added that the yard she lived in contained three houses with three families, all related to each other. Sancharrie said that they all would look out for him from time to time.
She said that she and other relatives had mounted a search for her nephew on Tuesday after he failed to return home.
This search, which was unsuccessful, resumed yesterday morning to no avail.
She explained however, that she received a call from a neighbour who told her that some children had come across a body in the canal near Agriculture Road.
When she arrived at the location, she saw and confirmed that the man was indeed her nephew. Sancharrie said that Balkaran would usually leave home to go sit on the rail above the canal, which is situated on the Railway Embankment.
She speculated that he was probably sitting on the rail when he was having one of his episodes.
This, she said, probably caused him to fall into to the canal and drown.
Personnel from the Lyken’s Funeral Home subsequently showed up to take the body to the morgue, but encountered great difficulty because of where it was situated.
The body was eventually pulled from the canal and taken to the Lyken’s morgue.
