Four months have passed since Anna Catherina teenager Safraz Sattaur hanged himself and the Ministry of Education is still to comment on whether the probation officer involved in the incident was attached to the ministry.
Minister of Education Priya Manickchand had said that the ongoing investigation was yet to find evidence to implicate ministry welfare officers, though relatives and neighbours of the teen have insisted that the person who visited and reportedly threatened the teen on the day he took his own life, was from her ministry.
Sattaur’s grandmother, Rahale Sattaur, told Stabroek News yesterday that she was angry that the welfare officer was still seemingly employed at the ministry, while adding that no one has made contact with the family about the progress of the investigations. The woman said that all she is asking the ministry to do is remove the person who interrogated her grandson from his post because he was a threat to others.
She also added that her family was still in the process of healing. Sattaur also reiterated that they will not leave her grandson’s matter un-solved until they have answers.
Sattaur, 16, committed suicide in January after he was allegedly threatened by ministry welfare officers. This followed the suicide of his 15-year-old girlfriend, who had hanged herself three weeks prior at her Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo home.
Villagers had said that Sattaur received a visit from the welfare officers the day he hanged himself and he claimed that they had threatened him and told him that he would have to go to court over his girlfriend’s death.
Meanwhile, the Education Ministry is still to reveal the findings of the investigation into the death of St Margaret’s pupil Joshua Hubbard who died after he was pushed down at the school by another child in February.
Chief Educa-tion Officer (CEO) Olato Sam had said that the investigation was completed and was with the minister. Eight-year-old Hubbard died after he began to complain of pain. A post-mortem examination revealed that he died of blunt trauma and brain haemorrhaging just before he could receive medical attention.
Like the Sattaur family, Hubbard’s parents said they too are waiting on the ministry for answers. The child’s mother Annette Hubbard said they are tired with the “run around” the ministry was putting them through and they are getting “fed up” of it.
She stated that their last experience was two Mondays ago when they went to the ministry. The woman said when they arrived at the ministry, they were told to go to the police station with regard to the matter. She added that they went to the station but police officers at the station told them that they had to go back to the ministry.
When asked if there were any new development in the two cases, Public Relations Officer of the Ministry Suelle Findlay-Williams said she could not say definitively and asked for contact to be made with the ministry on Tuesday to clarify this.
