…slaughter draws massive, fiery protest
Residents living along the West Coast Berbice have erupted in protest over the slaughter of two teenage boys aback Cotton Tree Village. The murder of the duo has already added fuel to an already tense situation in the area which only recently was embroiled in protest actions over the detention of Clairmont Mingo.
“This is murder, this is cruel. This is people looking for trouble,” one villager standing next to the fiery protest told the Village Voice. Police stood nearby monitoring the situation. One man who was part of the search party for the young men, said he observed their bodies were badly mutilated. The boys were in the village to pick coconuts when their attackers killed them. It is unclear what triggered the brutality. Police up to the time of this article have not issued a statement on the killing. However, police said acting upon information received ranks have since arrested a 57-year-old man of Cotton Tree, West Coast Berbice. He is presently in custody.
Residents found the badly mutilated bodies about three hundred feet apart. A reliable source said that they found bags used by the youths with coconuts and then picked up a trail of blood and followed it. “They were apparently beaten mercilessly before their throats were cut almost severing their heads,” one searcher said. The bodies were brought out late Sunday evening and stored at Bailey’s Funeral Parlor at # 3 Village pending post mortem. Meanwhile scores of angry residents thronged the roadway demanding justice for the two youths. They set up a road block on the bridge between # 4 and # 5 villages and thronged media persons who took videos and pictures and instructed them to delete same.
Village Voice reported earlier that the bodies of two school boys ages 17 and 19 were early Sunday afternoon found with their throats slashed at the Cotton Tree backdam, West Coast Berbice one day after they went missing. The boys have been identified as Isaiah Henry age 17 and Joel Henry age 19 of Number.3. Village West Coast Berbice. Reports reaching Village Voice are that the teenagers went to the backdam of Cotton Tree to pick coconuts on Saturday. However, they did not return home and a massive search was immediately launched. Villagers searched all night Saturday, but did not find any trace of the youths. They returned on Sunday and in the afternoon found the bodies of the boys with their throats slashed amidst bushes.
Attorney-at-law Darren Wade has called for a thorough investigation into the murder of the youths. He said the same energy and zest the police used to go after Mingo and other GECOM officials they must do same in this issue. “This is highly disturbing, the villagers are hurt,” Wade said.
