Body of battered lad found in drain
By Nigel Williams
Stabroek News
December 18, 2002
Residents of Sophia Front, Greater Georgetown, were shocked by the gruesome discovery yesterday of the battered body of a boy in a drain on the Railway Embankment.
Up to press time last night, the police were seeking to identify the lad whose badly beaten body, clad in a pair of green long pants, a blue long-sleeved shirt and a pair of badly torn desert boots, was found in a shallow drain at around 8:10 am yesterday.
Even though the body was transported to the Newburg Funeral Parlour early yesterday morning no one had gone to the funeral home to claim it up to press time.
Assistant Superintendent of Police, David Ramnarine when asked about the incident could only say that a security officer living in the Sophia area had made the report about the grisly discovery to the Prashad Nagar Police Outpost around 8:10 am yesterday.
Ramnarine said the body had multiple abrasions to the back and chest.
Residents of Sophia Front and Liliendaal who live in close proximity to the scene where the boy was found said they did not hear any sound which would indicate that he died in a hit-and-run accident the night before or yesterday morning.
One resident told this newspaper that he was positive that he saw a navy blue 4x4 jeep at about midnight on Monday in the vicinity of where the boy was found. At the corner of the drain where the boy lay was evidence of a vehicle's wheel and the grass along that path was flattened, indicating that something heavy might have traversed there. The man opined that someone may have beaten the little boy and then dumped him there.
When Stabroek News visited the scene yesterday morning the discovery had just been made and a huge crowd had converged on the embankment. For over 45 minutes the lad's body remained in the drain. Three police officers later arrived and one of them quickly covered the body with a salt bag.
The boy's back was severely lacerated and bore black and blue welts. His chest also had bruises and there was a small hole to the left rib cage. Under his chin a few cut marks were evident and his neck appeared to have been broken. From all indications his body ended up in the trench sometime during Monday evening.
Residents bemoaned the manner of the child's death.
From all appearances the lad seemed neglected. His desert boots were badly damaged and both his trousers and shirt were over-size while his very long hair was notably unkempt.
Many believe that the lad was a street child.
