A 12-year-old boy, of Black Bush Polder, who left home to take part in the festivities with his friends, drowned at a nearby canal on Friday.
Hemraj Ramnauth, 12, a first form student at the J.C Chandisingh Secondary School, and of Lot 88 Johanna, Black Bush Polder, died on Friday morning.
According to his mother, Sadna Rambarran, on the morning of Phagwah, Ramnauth sought permission from her to head over to the three bridge location, two streets away, with a few of his friends to celebrate Phagwah with other villagers who were present.
The emotional woman recalled that her son even made a few jokes with her as he asked to her to prepare potato curry and dhal puri for the family as they were what he wanted to eat for the day.
It was that meal that Rambarran was hurrying to prepare when she received the news that her eldest child had died.
She told Sunday Stabroek that Ramnauth’s brother, 7, was at the location and witness his brother’s demise.
According to the woman, the younger boy related that his brother went into the canal with his friend to swim “and he friend tell he he go hold he hand and when them go in he lef the boy hand and lef he in the trench.”
She said her younger son related that when he noticed his brother “going under water” he began to scream for help but no one rushed to assist them.
However, he then informed two young men standing on a nearby dam of what transpired and they then rushed over to the canal and immediately plunged in to rescue the lad. Ramnauth was taken out of the canal in an unconscious state and rushed to the Mibicuri Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Meanwhile, Rambarran – a single mother –described her now dead son as a “brilliant” young man. She said the lad, who regularly attended Mandir, wanted to become a doctor and that she always encouraged and supported him. “I always tell he he go make me proud, let he take he book and study.”
Ramnauth had also planned to attend Mandir later that fatal day with his family.
