The exhumation of Surujpaul Dindyal has been delayed because the Good Hope Cemetery is flooded from the recent heavy rainfall, however, his family senses a ‘cover up’ in the matter and will keep pressing to have it done.
Dindyal, called “Boy” or “Go Go man”, 43, a fisherman and father of two of Melanie Damishana, East Coast Demerara (ECD) died on December 9, last year after he was struck down along the public road at Buxton, ECD. He was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital by the police, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The next day, his body was mistakenly buried along with four others that were unclaimed and subjected to ‘poor burial’. Following inquiries by his family a decision was taken to exhume all of the bodies so that Dindyal’s could be formally identified and handed over for a proper burial. The exhumation had been scheduled for last week.
The police in a press release had said that enquiries disclosed that motorcar PVV 4355 was travelling west along the southern side of the road. It was claimed that the driver observed two other cars, which were proceeding in the opposite direction, drive into his lane, which forced him to swerve. As a result, he collided with Dindyal, who was walking on the southern parapet.
The driver was subjected to a breathalyzer test which revealed that he was over the legal alcohol limit. The driver of the motor car, PVV 4355, and another person Emily Persaud, 17, of Annandale, also sustained injuries and were hospitalised following the incident.
Dindyal was unidentified at the time of the incident, because his wife and family were unaware of his death since they thought that he was at sea.
His sister, Annie Bharrat, told Stabroek News yesterday that the court order was already obtained for the exhumation to take place but the family was informed by the police that they will have to wait since the cemetery was flooded.
Bharrat said while this was understandable, she did not believe that her brother’s burial was a mistake as claimed, but was well planned. “I feel is a cover up something and money pass for them to get rid of the body so that the driver won’t get any more charges,” Bharrat said.
However, she is determined to have her brother’s remains exhumed and positively identified so that a post-mortem examination could be conducted to determine his cause of death.
“This ain’t going down like this. We want closure and will make sure we get to the bottom of this,” she said.
Dindyal’s wife, Karan Bisal had previously told this newspaper that she last saw her husband alive on December 8 when he left home in search of a job. “He does go sea and come back. He leff home saying he going and see fuh wuk so after we see he ain’t come back we seh he mussy get a lil wuk and gone sea and he will come back in a couple days,” Bisal had said.
However, as the days went by and Dindyal did not return home, his family became worried and began to search for him.
On December 15, Bisal said, she went to the Vigilance Police Station to make a missing person’s report. One week later, after not hearing anything from the police, she decided to place a missing person’s advertisement on television.
It was after this that she received a call from a police officer who invited her to visit the station where she was shown a photograph of the unidentified person on his cell phone. Bisal positively identified the individual as Dindyal due to a tattoo on his hand and the clothes he was wearing.
That same day they went to the Georgetown Public Hospital mortuary in order to identify her husband, but the mortuary employees could not find Dindyal’s body. “The mortuary don’t have records that they had the body,” she related, “but the Emergency Unit where he was taken following the accident and pronounced dead, had records that he was taken there by the police and he died.”
Following this she returned to the police, but claimed they pushed her around until the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) intervened in the matter. “Is till CID come in this thing then the mortuary and the hospital employees admitted that the following day after the accident they did poor burial for five individuals who were described as destitute,” she said.
Dindyal’s remains were among them.
Commander of ‘C’ Division Marlon Chapman had confirmed with this newspaper that the five bodies were to be exhumed.
The driver of the car was charged with driving under the influence. He could not face additional charges in relation to Dindyal’s death since the body could not be located.
