The wedding celebrations of an East Coast Demerara (ECD) family came to a tragic end early yesterday morning when the brother of the bride was fatally stabbed during a confrontation with a group of uninvited guests.
Dead is 30-year-old Chavez Mangal, a Guyana Defence Force Medic, of 325 Enterprise Gardens, ECD.
Stabroek News understands that a commotion unfolded around 12.30 hrs at the wedding house, hosted in Good Hope, ECD, after a relative of the deceased objected to the group of four men interfering with girls who were dancing at the celebrations. Annoyed by the objection, the men launched an attack.
A police report yesterday stated that the suspects were armed with knives and scissors and one man has since been apprehend and is being questioned. He was found with two knives and a pair of scissors in his waistband.
With visible injuries to his forehead, left hand and body, he was questioned by ranks on how he received his injuries and he stated he was attacked at the wedding house. He was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) to receive medical attention.
The police said preliminary investigations reveal-ed that one of the suspects had approached the DJ enquiring about the music, which had been halted. An eyewitness told police after the music stopped, others gathered at the DJ booth and during that time Mangal’s assailant pulled a knife from his waist and stabbed him in the upper right region of his chest.
The eyewitness told police he also confronted Mangal’s assailant and was also stabbed to his left hand, while another wedding crasher threw a bottle at him.
Police reported that during the commotion the four wedding crashers armed themselves with glass bottles and began to throw the bottles at the building, after which they ran away.
The police also said the DJ, a 24-year-old man, exited the yard during the commotion and was confronted by one of the suspects, who dealt him a chop to his left hand. He was rushed to the GPH, where he was seen and admitted as a patient. The men allegedly stole his MacBook Pro Laptop computer, valued at $130,000.
‘Respect’
Meanwhile, at the home of Mangal’s parents, his family was still in disbelief at the turn of events. Mangal was his parents’ only son. His father, Dharmindra Mangal, a cash crop and livestock farmer, yesterday told Stabroek News a different version of the events that led to the fatal stabbing. The father explained that after the group of men entered the premises, a relative observed they were harassing girls.
“He [the relative] walk up to them and say ‘Bhai y’all stop trouble them girls.’ And my son see this and he hold on one of them and say ‘Rest y’all self. Y’all in people place. Get some respect…’” the father recounted.
He added that the men at that moment stared to pelt bottles in the air, resulting in a commotion.
“They were shying bottles non-stop. Mus’ ‘e like four cases of bottle they were pelting and some people get small, small injuries,” he explained.
To him it is unclear when and how his son got stabbed but he stated that after his son realised he was injured, he ran into the house and called for help.
“…He run come in the house and call he brother-in-law to take him to the hospital. When he come in he was holding his chest and he sit on the chair and call for help,” the father related, while noting that his son was bleeding profusely as a result of the injuries.
The deceased, police said, reportedly lost consciousness and was picked up and rushed to Dr Balwant Singh’s Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries while receiving treatment about 01:18 hrs.
The father stated that on the way to the hospital his son was still alive as well as when he was being treated.
The father stated that his son had three visible wounds about his body.
The father described his son as a hardworking and jovial individual. He stated that since his son joined the army in 2012, it was only from last year, when he was stationed at Camp Ayanganna, the GDF headquarters, that he was home more frequently.
“He worked in Kaikan, Eterinbang, Timehri and other areas and loved the work he did. I tried getting him all different jobs before but he never wanted. He always wanted to be in the army,” the father stated.
Holding back tears, the man stated that the death of his son was a devastating blow to the family, particularly after another death only a month ago.
The father added that he would like to see justice being served to his family and remains hopeful that the police will be able to apprehend all parties involved.
Last Tuesday, an overseas-based 21-year-old Guyanese died after he was stabbed at Crabwood Creek, Corentyne at a post-wedding celebration.
Lakhan Chaterpaul, also known as `Rickash’, 21, of Ohio, United States, sustained a single stab injury in his lower abdomen and collapsed a short distance away from his grandfather’s Grant 1802 Crab-wood Creek house, where he was vacationing.
In a similar sequence of events, a group of uninvited guest entered the premises and were asked to leave after they were suspected to be using illegal narcotics.
The suspects after leaving the yard began damaging some of the vehicles that had ben parked there. Some of the male relatives proceeded to the street and it was then that Chaterpaul was dealt a stab.
According to relatives, Chaterpaul did not engage the men at any point but only proceeded to the street after he heard the men were hitting the vehicles, and it was then that he was attacked.
