Will justice ever be served for one-year-old Ryan?

May 10, 2009 News

A mother’s plight

On May 18, last year, what was supposed to be a family outing, ended in tragedy as one year-old Ryan Hemanchand was crushed to death by a minibus that was expected to take the family on an outing.
Now one year later the incident still haunts the family who lost their only son, and more distressing for the family is the fact that in their minds no justice has been served. Recently the frustrated mother of the child, Tricia Goberdan visited this newspaper to talk of her plight.

Dead one-year-old Ryan Hemanchand

Goberdan said since the incident life for her entire family has changed. The once stay-at- home mother said that since the incident she made the decision to occupy herself since she did not want to fall into a state of depression. According to Goberdan, what is more difficult for the family is the fact that the incident occurred just in front of their home. That alone is a constant reminder of their son’s death.
While Goberdan said that she has dealt with her son’s death considerably well she is worried about the way her husband is dealing with it. She said that her husband seems to be dealing with it in a manner she does not appreciate and like most husbands, she said that he has refused to seek help.
The woman said that her husband spends most of his time consuming alcohol, moreso when he sees the driver of the minibus.
“The man lives not too far from us and it’s very difficult for my husband to face him everyday,” Goberdan said.
She added that her husband often talks of ending his life. He appears to be in a state of depression.
“We have a daughter, but that was our only son and he really loved his son. Sometimes he would say that he has to go with his son,” the woman said.
Given all this the woman said what continues to add to their frustration is the fact that it seems as if justice will not be served.
Tomorrow will be one year since little Ryan was killed and the family says that no charges have been laid against the person who drove the bus that killed him. Recounting that incident, Goberdan said they entire family and a few friends were preparing for a trip to the creek on that fateful day.
She said she was inside the house preparing for the trip while her son was. “I left him (Ryan) playing with the driver they were sitting on a table under the house, and the next thing I know that my son was crushed by the minibus,” the woman recalled. Ever since her son’s death Goberdan said she has visited every single organisation she feels would be able to give her some advice or justice but to no avail.
Since the incident the driver of the minibus was detained by police for 72 hours and subsequently released on station bail.
Noting the fact that even a trial in court would not bring back her son the woman said it would give some satisfaction that there is justice.