(Trinidad Express) A retired school principal was chopped to death by a man who is mentally ill on Wednesday.
James Gajadhar, 77, was found bleeding in his garden at the back of his home in Rio Claro around 3.30 p.m.
Police said the pensioner was tending to his vegetables when he was attacked by the 33-year-old man who lives in an abandoned house nearby.
He was chopped multiple times in the head, face, chest and arm.
Gajadhar’s son, Russel Gajadhar, told the Express in a telephone interview that his father went to pick vegetables in a garden behind their home when he was attacked.
“He told my mom he was going to the garden and ten minutes later, my mother went to check on him. She said she saw the man walking away with a cutlass, but she didn’t know my dad was chopped. She walked down and saw my father on the ground covered in blood and thought he fell,” he said.
The son said his elderly father was taken to the Mayaro District Health Facility by an ambulance where he died.
Gajadhar was a father of two sons and a grandfather of one.
“He was a principal at Ecclesville Presbyterian School for many years. And he was an elder in the Rio Claro Presbyterian Church where he would preach sometimes,” Russel said.
The son, who lives in Canada, said he had spent a month with his parents and returned home last week Friday.
“I came home for a month and spent time with my parents. We have a great time together going fishing and working on the garden,” he said.
Russel said he knew the suspect was an outpatient of St Ann’s Hospital.
“I saw him a few times. He lived in an abandoned house at the back of my parents. I heard he was violent, but I never really saw him that way. We kept to ourselves, and he didn’t really bother us. I don’t know what happened that day,” he said.
In a social media post, Russel said he was saddened by his father’s passing.
He wrote, “I never thought the day would come where I have to regret to announce the death of my father, James Gajadhar. He always made sure that his immediate family had food on the table and helped me in every way possible in making it in life.”
Russel wrote that it was sad that his father’s life was ended by a person who should have been receiving medical treatment.
“God knows best and I trust in God that one day we’ll meet again. I miss and love you Dad, you’ll be missed by many, many people,” he said.
A resident responded that Gajadhar was “a gem of a person…a pillar in the community”.
A 33-year-old Rio Claro resident has since been detained in connection with Gajadhar’s death.
Meanwhile, Mayaro MP Rushton Paray said yesterday that the brutal killing of Gajadhar was a tragic reminder of the crime and violence in the country.
In a statement, Paray said, “Our once peaceful communities in the Mayaro constituency have been transformed into dangerous killing fields, where lawlessness reigns unchecked.”
Paray said the country had lost confidence in every institution which is supposed to protect citizens. And the public has lost faith in the leaders, he said.
“We must confront the ugly truth that without a radical and immediate shift in our national security strategies, the situation will worsen,” he said.
On Monday, Princes Town mother Marlah Boodram was beaten to death at her home by a male relative who suffers from mental health problems.
Boodram, 57, was found battered and bloodied lying on the floor inside her bedroom.
The 31-year-old suspect took a bath, changed his clothing and was sitting on a chair at the house when police arrived. He remains in police custody and is to be charged with murder.
Boodram will be laid to rest today.
The murder toll for the year so far stood at 384 up to last night. The comparative toll at the same time last year was 364.