…boatmen who dropped off passengers tell police
….as Guyana, Suriname authorities deepen probe into backtrack tragedy
…autopsies confirmed duo drowned
By Farah Bates
A post Morten examination conducted on the remains of Alwin Joseph and Baboni Harihar on Wednesday morning revealed that the victims died of asphyxia and drowning. The autopsy was done by pathologist, Vivekanand Bridgemohan at Anthony’s Funeral home, Corentyne Berbice.
The duo, together with Sherida Hussein had boarded a boat from a fishing center in Nickerie, Suriname last Monday evening and departed for Guyana. However, they were dropped off by the boat captain on a sandbank. Shortly after arriving on the #63 beach, the trio went missing.
In a release sent out by the Surinamese Police Department on Friday, it was disclosed that three persons have been arrested since Tuesday, pending investigations in the incident.
The Dutch Criminal Investigation Department was informed by Guyanese authorities on Monday that a fishing vessel had left Nickerie sometime Monday evening with two females and one male who reportedly went missing moments after disembarking at #63 beach. Acting, on information from their Guyanese counterparts, the Surinamese lawmen immediately began a thorough investigation and were able to arrest 57-year-old D.N called Bim, 51-year-old Rako and fifty five year-old Tjing Bai on Tuesday last.
The men admitted to police in Suriname that they dropped off the trio on a sandbank but they did not realise that the distance from the sandbank to the sea shore was that far out. They also said that after they saw Hussein, Joseph and Harihar walking towards the shore, they left, as they thought they could have walked through the water to reach shore. Unfortunately, Harihar and Joseph drowned while Hussein is feared dead as her body is still to be recovered.
Her son 19-year old, Joshua Samaroo said that today will be the last day searching for his mother’s body since they had been combing areas on both land and sea for the past three days but came up empty- handed.
“I was hoping to find her body but given the time frame, it’s already past 72 hours and we already last three tides which is the average time for her body to float up or washed ashore and we are now on the fourth day which means that if there is any chance to locate her body, today would have been the slightest of it but up to now we have still not been able to find her, the grieving teenager said.”
He noted that they have been searching the shores everyday after the tide falls and then they ventured out to sea early in the morning and late in the afternoon with hopes of finding her body.
“It doesn’t make sense we continue searching after today because once she swell and burst, she is going to go back down into the water. Possibility lies that she was supposed to wash up with the other people too but she recently did a surgery and she has a raw cut on her abdomen which is about two months old, so if water is to fill her up she could’ve possibly burst first instead of floating up like the others. It’s so much different things that may have happened but I just don’t know what to say.”
Police on Wednesday last recovered Hussein’s handbag including her traveling documents, Guyana Identification Card, passport and medical.
