Body found in Zeelugt cemetery…Brothers optimistic that the law of the land will prevail

Jan 22, 2012 News

Two brothers of the late Afroze Ali, the woman who was found dead in a cemetery at Zeelugt, East Bank

One of the dead woman’s brothers, Mohamed Rasheed.

Essequibo, are optimistic that the law of the land will prevail,  so that the person or persons guilty of killing her is/are brought to justice swiftly.
Speaking to this newspaper yesterday, Mohamed Rasooal, one of the woman’s brothers, said that while his sister had personal issues which she was battling to deal with, she was a very kind and pleasant person.
Rasooal, a businessman who resides in Trinidad, said that it was unbelievable that he had to return to bury his sister, even as he recounted that it was just recently that she had visited him.
“We had such a good time…I took her to Tobago and she had such a good time.”
The time away was a vacation well spent, since according to him, his sister had usually spent her time caring for their mother who is currently ailing from cancer.
The 40-year-old woman was the fifth of nine siblings and a mother of four, Mohamed Rasooal said. He revealed that his sister and a number of other relatives lived at a house at Zeelugt which he had bought for his mother.
“I was always in contact with them…Many people looked at her and believed that she didn’t have family and circumstances caused that…because of alcohol and drug abuse she was out of it at times, but she was the nicest person,” Mohamed Rasooal reminisced.
He pointed out that while the police have been doing a relatively good job, even capturing two suspects, he will not be satisfied until “someone his charged with the crime that cost my sister her life.”
He referred to reports that one of the individuals in custody was in fact found guilty and served jail time for a similar crime.
“We knew of this since we were young, but growing up around a person sometimes causes you to trust them and feel comfortable with them, and I believe that it was trusting a familiar face that led to my sister’s death,” the man lamented.
And while the brothers insist that they will not interfere with the judicial process they said that they will remain resolutely behind the matter to ensure that it does not become a cold case. They are confident that the police have enough evidence in their possession to bring a satisfactory end to the case.
According to Mohamed Rasheed, another brother, who resides in the United States, there are reports of several cases in the same East Bank Essequibo village that have remained unsolved, and as a result “we are prepared to put all of our time and resources into solving this one….it is not just about our sister this could have happened to anybody…it could have been anybody’s relative. If we don’t ensure that criminals are brought to justice then they are going to take over the country because they will feel that they can do as they like,” said a distraught Rasheed.
Members of the Tuschen Community Policing Group early Wednesday morning captured a man who is considered the main suspect in last Sunday’s murder at Zeelugt,.
According to reports, the man who has been identified only as ‘Sunny’ was found hiding in an abandoned house in the Tuschen New Scheme. He was caught by members of the Community Policing Group and subsequently handed over to the ranks of the Leonora Police Station.
They also arrested a second man identified as Anthony Albert, 57, late Wednesday afternoon.  Both Sunny and Albert were said to be drug addicts. Eyewitnesses said that the now dead woman was in the company of the two men just before she died.
A post mortem examination revealed that she died as a result of asphyxiation due to manual strangulation compounded with blunt trauma to the head. The post mortem was done Wednesday at the Ezekiel Funeral home by Government Pathologist, Dr. Nehaul Singh. Samples were taken from the woman’s vaginal area for further testing.
Ali was found half-naked on Sunday at around 11:00 hours after ‘Sunny’ informed the woman’s relatives that she was dead and in the burial ground. Shortly after relatives confirmed what ‘Sunny’ told them, the man vanished. A shallow grave, believed to have been freshly dug, was found near the woman’s body.
MARGINALISED AND HUMILIATED
Having learnt of their sister’s demise the brothers immediately planned their trip to Guyana to bury their sister. But according to them their grief was compounded when they were “marginalized and humiliated” by customs officers as they passed through the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
According to them not only were they asked to step aside while other passed undisturbed, every piece of their luggage was searched as if they were “terrorists” despite the fact that they had nothing to declare.
“I was a little distance from my brother and so apparently when he came to me for his reading glasses they seemed to think that we had some plans…I don’t know what they said, but the way they treated us it made us feel marginalized and humiliated,” said Mohamed Rasooal.
Mohamed Rasheed stressed: “I felt humiliated and discriminated against in my own country…at a time like this, they are treating you like you are a criminal.”