Kaieteur Falls tragedy… Suicide was planned days before

Nov 23, 2015 News

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Information was still hard to come by yesterday as to why 22 year old Roshinee Pagwah took that death-plunge on Saturday off the Kaieteur Falls.

But indications are that she had been planning to take her life at the popular tourist site days before.

Pagwah of lot 54 Reliance Abondon, East Canje, Berbice, was a clerk at the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL).

She was the only child of her mother, Indira Ramsundar, a housewife, who was still inconsolable yesterday, clutching at her daughter’s photographs and a garment that had belonged to the young woman.

Roshinee, who lived with her mother and an aunt, left home around 05:00 hrs for Georgetown, reportedly to follow a friend to clear a barrel. She had promised that she would return home a little after midday. She never indicated that she was going to the Kaieteur Falls.

The young lady who was described as very outgoing was a former student of the New Amsterdam Multilateral School.

She gained employment at the GPL not long after leaving school. According to family and friends, she showed no signed of being depressed.

Pagwah’s aunt, Indira Ramsundar said yesterday that she searched her niece’s room but found no letter or anything that signaled her intent.

According to the aunt, Pagwah was always a cheerful person and shared everything with her mother.

“We still don’t know what’s going on and what could have caused her to jump. She jumped and her mother is taking it on a lot. She is holding onto her photograph all the time and cry.”

But in an Instagram post on Friday, November 20, the young woman posted a photograph of herself with the caption “There is nothing more depressing than having it all & still feeling sad”.

She offered no details for her depressed state of mind.

Her aunt said that they are unaware of her having a boyfriend and ruled that out as a reason for the young woman taking her life.

According to the aunt, Roshinee had not attended work for two weeks prior to the tragedy, since she was reportedly on sick leave.

However, Roshinee reportedly went to work on Friday and assisted in paying salaries.

She reportedly was in a jolly mood and had some drinks with her colleagues.

On her Facebook page, Roshinee’s friends expressed disbelief at how she had met her death.

Some of them even suggested that ‘supernatural forces’ were responsible for her plunging over the waterfall.

One of her friends said, “There is something at the falls that is calling these people and that is why they are jumping.”

But checks at the tour agency, Roraima Airways, revealed that the young woman may have planned her suicide for days.

According to information received, early last week, Roshinee called the travel agency and made a reservation to go to the majestic waterfalls.

She then made several follow-up calls to enquire whether the tour was still on.

“We would usually wait and see how many passengers we get before we confirm tours and she (Pagwah) was the first person to make the reservation so we had her on hold while we waited on more passengers but she kept on calling during the week, asking if the tour was still on,” a source said.

This newspaper was told that Roshinee appeared desperate to go to the waterfalls, due to the fact that she called the agency almost every day.

Surveillance footage released from the travel agency showed that the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) employee arrived at the company’s head office in a red car.

She then walked into Roraima’s office and paid for the tour after which she entered the tour bus.

Roshinee was a passenger on a Roraima Airways flight that left the Ogle International Airport with eight other persons– four Canadians and four Americans.

The 22 year old who celebrated her birthday on the 18th September, reportedly jumped off the 741 foot waterfall sometime around 09:00 hrs.
During the trip, Roshnie showed no signs of agitation and was seen taking photographs.
It was while the group was getting ready to leave the waterfalls that she turned back and ran towards the waterfalls and plunged.
Managing Director of Roraima Airways, Gerry Gouveia said that this time around the tour guide and people from the Kaieteur National Park were alerted and ran behind Roshinee,  but failed to stop her.

The Ministry of Tourism, in a statement, said that while heading back to the aircraft, Pagwah turned and ran towards the falls and jumped into the gorge.
The statement added that the tour guides were unsuccessful in intercepting the young woman’s dash.
“Reports indicate that revised tour protocols, including two guides per tour, regular head counts and the reporting of unusual behaviour, were in place and observed at the time of the incident,” the release added.
Representative of the Office of the Prime Minister Gobin Harbajan and Regional Executive Officer Veerasammy Ramayya and other officials visited the family yesterday.

During the visit, the family was able to speak to Minister of Tourism Catherine Hughes by phone who assured that all efforts are being made to locate and retrieve the body.  She stated that all efforts are also being made to have a Psychologist and or a sociologist or Social Worker visit the family as early as possible.

Yesterday, a source, who is a part of the team that journeyed to the falls to locate the body, said that immediately after Roshinee plunged off the falls, her body was spotted in the water but then it sank.

The Ministry of Tourism in a statement yesterday said that a team from the Guyana Police Force travelled to the falls yesterday as investigations continue into the suicide of the 22-year-old.

The release stated that the pool at the bottom of the waterfalls is being monitored for signs of the victim.

The operation is being led by Special Forces of the Guyana Defence Force, due to the dangerous and extremely rugged terrain below the waterfalls.

All tours have been suspended until ranks from the Guyana Police Force locate the body.

A little over two months ago, another local visitor to the falls, Laleta Sivanand ended her life at the majestic falls.

The circumstances which led to Sivanand jumping over the falls are still unclear.

Also, in 2009, 23-year-old Aliya Bulkan also plunged off the falls.

 

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