When her mother was hit and killed by a car along the East Bank Demerara public road on Tuesday, Shalisa Harripersaud lost not only her only parent but her sole provider.
Shalisa, 18, is now considering quitting school to find a job.
The only child of the late Sarswattie Harripersaud, she is pursuing studies in Business Management at the Business School. Her mother had worked as a cook with M&M Fast Food Snackette for about 26 years and was the sole breadwinner of their home.
Shalisa noted that she was single handedly raised by her mother, who gave her the best of everything.
She told Stabroek News that her mother had celebrated her 56th birthday on October 9. She related the last conversation they had before the tragedy on Tuesday.
At 3.02 pm on that fatal day, Shalisa said, her mother called her and asked her permission to visit a relative at Goed Fortuin on West Bank Demerara. She said she found it strange that her mother would seek her permission to leave home, since that was unusual. It was only ten minutes after that conversation that she received another call from her mother’s number. However, instead of her mother, the voice on the other end was that of a strange male, who told her that he had found the phone. Her first thoughts were that her mother had been robbed. However, the caller alerted her to the accident and advised that she visit the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
Upon venturing out to the public road, Shalisa saw a large crowd at the scene of the accident. It was then she realised that it was
something very serious had befallen her mother. She said she became hysterical and began to scream, ‘’I want my mommy back’’ as she made her way to the hospital. There her worst fears were confirmed when she rushed into the Accident and Emergency area of the GPH, where the battered body of her mother lay still. She described the sight as “gruesome,” while adding that it appeared as though her mother’s neck and arms were broken; there was a gaping wound on her shoulder, a hole in her head and other injuries to her legs, while her body was covered in blood.
Shalisa told Stabroek News that she is grateful to the police officers who were proceeding on the road at the time of the accident because they turned around and lent assistance.
She added that at least three eyewitnesses told her that her mother was on the pedestrian crossing and that she had started screaming as she apparently realised that she was about to be hit. A post-mortem examination performed on the remains of the dead woman revealed that she died as a result of multiple injuries.
Funeral arrangements are being made to have the body of Sarswattie cremated on Sunday.
Meanwhile, a poultry farmer was on Wednesday released on $400,000 bail after denying that he caused the death of a pedestrian through dangerous driving.
Mark Fernandes, 29, of lot 10 Second Street, Subryanville, Georgetown, was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
The allegation against Fernandes is that on October 14, at Little Diamond, East Bank Demerara, he drove motor vehicle GRR 9735 in a manner dangerous to the public, thereby causing the death of Harripersaud.
He was not required to plead to the indictable charge which was read to him.
Fernandes’ attorney in her submission to the court had claimed that Harripersaud ran across the road and was struck by a vehicle that was ahead of her client’s vehicle. She said the vehicle swerved and caused a collision with her client’s vehicle.
The magistrate placed Fernandes on $400,000 bail with the condition that he reports every other Friday to Sergeant Mullers at the Providence Police Station, from October 31.
He is to make his next court appearance on November 17.
