Post-mortem examinations performed yesterday on the remains of the four persons who died tragically at Philadelphia, East Bank Essequibo while discarding items from a Hindu religious ritual confirmed that they died by drowning.
Radika Persaud, 53, her son, Ravin, 14, of Vergenoengen and her 12-year-old nephew, Billy ‘Amit’ Narine and her niece, Annatina Persaud, 9, of Onderneeming, West Bank Demerara were at the time discarding the religious offerings from the function when they met their demise.
The incident occurred close to the koker at Philadelphia and their bodies were recovered shortly after in the same vicinity.
Reports are that Persaud cleaned up after the function which was held earlier in observance of her mother’s first death anniversary. The children then accompanied her to the riverside to empty the remains from the rituals.
Her sister, Dhanwantie ‘Mala,’ Persaud, 46, who lost her grandchildren, Billy and Annatina said she became worried after they took a long time to return.
She then decided to look for them and noticed two pairs of slippers and two t-shirts belonging to the boys “by the koker side.”
Realizing that something was amiss, she rushed home to inform her daughter, Subrina Persaud, 28, (Billy and Annatina’s mother) and they returned, along with other relatives and villagers to search the area.
They noticed a bucket that the offerings were in and then saw Billy’s body, clad only in underpants, floating up in the water and hurriedly retrieved it.
By then the water was “going out” and a relative decided to go in and search for the others. He managed to pull up the body of Ravin and was also able to locate Radika’s remains just nearby while Annatina’s were recovered within two minutes.
