An autopsy performed yesterday on a decapitated body, suspected to be that of businessman Mohamed Khan, was inconclusive, although the man’s family is even more convinced that it is him.
The missing man’s relatives had said that Khan, who had been shot and wounded during a failed execution attempt back in July, had suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach and signs of this on the corpse could have confirmed it to be him.
However, while the examination that was conducted yesterday did find a mark in the stomach area, the doctor was unable to confirm if it was a bullet wound.
Police are in possession of samples of the remains, which will more than likely be sent abroad for DNA testing with the hopes that a definitive conclusion will be reached as it pertains to the identity of the corpse. According to information from the police force’s Public Relations Department, the cause of death was undetermined.
Khan’s sister, Bibi Fareema Khan, who travelled to Guyana from the United States over the weekend with another sibling, told Stabroek News that after viewing the body she is certain that she was looking at her brother. She and her sister viewed the remains yesterday shortly before the autopsy was done at the Georgetown Public Hospital Morgue.
Bibi said that the doctor did see a mark on the stomach but was unable to confirm whether it was a bullet wound, given the decomposed state of the body.
The decapitated body, which was missing one foot from the knee down and the other from the ankle down, was badly decomposed when it was discovered. A human head, which was found in a plastic bag nearby, was also badly decomposed.
Photographs of a belt and pants, which were found on the body, were sent to Khan’s wife in Venezuela and it was she who identified the items as his.
According to Bibi, her brother wore two sets of dental plates and based on what she saw the missing teeth were in those areas.
Relatives who viewed the body previously had indicated to this newspaper that the man’s teeth had been knocked out.
The woman said that this along with the straight hair that is on the head, the pants and the belt make her certain that the remains are that of Khan. The distraught woman questioned why someone would be so cruel.
She said that her brother had received threats to his life and that the identities of the persons responsible will be revealed to the police.
She added that when the other relatives come, a final decision will be made on what will be done with the remains. She said that private DNA testing is also on the cards.
“It’s him but some family coming in tomorrow (today) to identify him some more,” she said.
With her belief that the corpse is her brother, Bibi told this newspaper that her brother did not deserve such a death, especially since he was always willing to help those in need. “This was a very cruel thing they did to him,” she stressed.
Despite the belief by relatives that the corpse is indeed Khan, more than likely the body will not be handed over to them until the police are certain about the identity. This may happen only when DNA testing is done and this can take months or possibly years in light of the police force’s poor record of getting speedy results from samples sent for testing overseas. Given the fact that the results of samples sent to Brazil in February and to Trinidad in August in the case of Nyozi Goodman, are still to be made available, closure may be a long way off for Khan’s family.
Though government recently commissioned a multimillion dollar forensic lab, DNA testing is not being done there. This had led to a flood of criticism as to the relevance of the lab given the fact that government spends quite a significant sum to send samples abroad for DNA testing and then has to wait lengthy periods to get the results.
One of Khan’s former employees had told this newspaper that the man was last heard from on August 21, four days after he had arrived from Venezuela to transact business. The man, who requested anonymity, said Khan was supposed to meet him later that week, but after Khan never contacted him he figured the man had returned home. The former employee said he only became aware that Khan had not contacted relatives when he received a call from the man’s wife in Venezuela, who was inquiring about his whereabouts.
The woman, who asked to remain unnamed, had told this newspaper that she last spoke with Khan on August 21 while he was in Guyana. She said that during his time here, he was to meet with his attorney before heading to the interior to look after his business.
Thereafter, he would have returned to Venezuela.
According to the woman just before he left, he had informed her that he had received a call that someone was looking for him.
Subsequently, a missing person’s report was filed with the Guyana Embassy in Venezuela and a missing person’s report was published in the Kaieteur News on October 12.
On September 22, the badly-decomposed decapitated corpse was found in a drain at Cummings Lodge. The head was found in a plastic bag a few feet from the body.
Because of the state of the body, investigators were unable to establish whether the feet had been severed prior to or after death, or removed by dogs. It is suspected that the person was killed elsewhere and his body and head dumped where he was found.
