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‘Missing’ doctor, fiancée return from Suriname
Parental pressure led to disappearance
After eloping for three days during which they reportedly went to Suriname, a young doctor and his fiancée returned home on Monday night.
Speculation was rife that the couple, Dr. Samsundar Lakeram and his fiancée Radica Devi Dwarka had been kidnapped. However, the couple told police that they went to the neighbouring Dutch-Speaking Republic on their own free will.
Dr. Samsundar Lakeram
The couple initially declined to comment. However, Dwarka told this newspaper that they decided to travel to Suriname to get “married in a foreign land”.
This newspaper was informed by a reliable source close to the investigation that parental pressure may have been the cause.
The source said that Lakeram’s father had been pushing him to continue his medical career against his wishes.
Kaieteur News understands that the young man had left his job at the Georgetown Public Hospital and wanted to be involved in business.
The hospital in a press release had stated that Lakeram was no longer employed at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation and that he had not been working at the hospital since July 14, 2008.
Sources said that the young doctor had become intensely frustrated.
The source said that the young doctor’s father was of the impression that he would resume working at the hospital on Monday last.
But as the time drew nearer, the young doctor decided to flee rather than be pressured back into the medical field.
On Saturday the couple left their respective homes at Non Pareil and Mon Repos on the East Coast of Demerara, telling relatives that they were going to the city.
After they did not return home on Saturday evening, their relatives became worried and launched a search for them. Calls to a cellular phone were unsuccessful. The woman had left her cellular phone behind.
On Sunday, the relatives, after combing several areas in the city, found the couple’s car abandoned on the Kingston Seawall.
Radica Devi Dwarka
Their clothing comprising two pairs of pants and two bodices were found locked inside, as well as an empty purse belonging to the woman.
The search continued late Sunday and Monday, with the police combing several East Coast Demerara locations.
According to a source, the couple traveled to the Corentyne on Saturday with the intention of reaching Suriname by nightfall.
However, they were unsuccessful and were forced to spend Saturday night at a hotel in the Ancient County. The following day they arrived in Suriname.
The young doctor subsequently contacted a friend in Guyana and was shocked to learn that their disappearance had caused huge concerns for both their families as well as the police.
This led to a change of heart and the couple subsequently returned to Guyana.
“I sensed that something was terribly wrong,” Dr. Lakeram told this newspaper during a brief interview at the Brickdam Police Station where they were interrogated upon their return yesterday. They were subsequently placed in police custody late last night.
Dwarka’s father told this newspaper that he received a message on his cellular phone from his daughter, shortly before the couple returned home, informing him that they were safe, and urging him not to worry.
The couple admitted departing Guyana illegally.
Both families have expressed their elation that the couple who appeared to be inseparable yesterday had returned safely, especially since some had suspected that they were kidnapped.
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