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Sep 11, 2016 Features / Columnists, Murder and Mystery
By Michael Jordan
He was six feet tall, but Sadeek Juman might just as well have been invisible, because no one saw him die in the hotel pool, a few days shy of his twenty-first birthday.
The pool was near the hotel bar, and there were reportedly guests nearby.
But yet, no one apparently saw him struggle in the water, no one heard him cry out, no one saw him go under. So how did this healthy youth drown?
Here’s some of what we know…
Sadeek Juman left his parent’s Blankenburg, West Coast Demerara home on Sunday, November 18, 2012, with birthday plans on his mind. He wanted duck curry for that special day, and he headed for his grandma’s home at Ruby, East Bank Essequibo, to see if she had any ducks to sell.
The old woman told him that she only had ‘white fowls’. Sadeek then left, stayed awhile by an uncle’s, then at around six that evening, called his mother, Farida Juman ,to say that he was ‘with friends’, and would be home by eight that night.
But eight o’clock came and Sadeek failed to show. By eleven, with Sadeek not answering his phone, Farida began to fear that something terrible had happened to her son.
At around five-thirty on the morning of Monday, November 19, 2012, with her son still missing, Mrs. Juman contacted a sister who confirmed that Sadeek had indeed visited his grandmother before stating that he was heading home.
Now worried relatives and friends checked at the hospitals and sections of the seawalls, while his mother filed a missing person report at the Den Amstel Police Station.
Then, later that day, one of Sadeek’s friends called with news that they had all feared. Sadeek’s body had been found at the Double Day hotel at Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo. It was clad only in swimming trunks, and the man’s cell phone and other belongings could not be located.
The hotel manager, Rabindra Bhola, would later tell Kaieteur News that his employees found Juman at around four o’clock, some 24 hours after Juman was seen entering the facility. It was the first time that relatives knew that the young mechanic had ever visited the hotel.
There are reports that Juman had received a call from someone who had told him to go to the poolside. He was reportedly seen on Sunday evening at the poolside with two friends, including a young woman.
A taxi driver who knew Juman alleged that he left the poolside at eight o’clock that Sunday and offered to give Juman a lift to his home. Juman reportedly said he was not ready to leave.
It is alleged that the two friends later told detectives that they left the hotel before eight that night. The young woman allegedly later also claimed that she had spent the night at the hotel with a foreigner.
A pathologist would later state that the mechanic died from drowning, compounded by blunt trauma. This seemed to indicate that Juman had somehow struck his head.
Juman was laid to rest on the very day that he would have celebrated his twenty-first birthday.
But how had this young man met his death? How had no one seen him die?
According to Juman’s mother, her son could not swim, and was in a shallow section of the pool, which enabled him to stand.
The family also showed photographs, taken on the day he had visited the hotel, of Juman and friends in the pool. They also alleged that he had consumed no alcohol, and said friends took photographs of his drinking fruit juices.
Juman’s relatives alleged that they were told that the pool was checked at around 01.00 hrs on Monday, November 19, and there was no sign of a body in the pool. One relative also stated that the pool was in close proximity to the bar, and that a security camera was pointed towards the pool.
But a hotel official who spoke to Kaieteur News this week denied that there was any security camera pointed towards the pool back then.
He suggested that Juman’s body had sunk to the bottom of the pool, but the presence of other swimmers had caused the water to become ‘cloudy,’ thereby obscuring the body. He stated that the corpse floated to the surface the following day.
The official declined to comment further, while stating that the case is still under investigation.
Juman’s mother, Farida Juman, remains convinced that her son was the victim of foul play, and alleged that information that has been relayed to her confirms this. She said that police had twice questioned the young woman who was with her son at the poolside. However, she was never detained.
Mrs. Juman said that the young woman had once called her and indicated that she wanted to divulge something, but then terminated the call. She has since migrated.
But Mrs. Juman continues to check with the police about her son’s case, but appears to have run into the proverbial ‘brick wall.’
“They promise to look over the file and then they say that they can’t find the file. I got fed up. I went to (then former Home Affairs Minister) Rohee, and he told me that I need evidence.”
She’s been told to move on, since the tragedy has affected her health. That is easier said than done.
“I am glad if they can pick up my son’s case so I can have justice.”
If you have any information about any other unusual cases, please contact us by letter or telephone at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown office. Our numbers are 22-58465, 22-58458 and 22-58452. You need not disclose your identity.
You can also contact Michael Jordan at his email address: [email protected]
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