Fishermen bodies found at West Coast foreshore

Feb 04, 2014 News

The bodies of two fishermen were this morning recovered from the De Kinderen, West Coast Demerara foreshore, effectively confirming the worst fears of their family members.

Dead: Sahadeo Bhagwandat

The two men, 47-year-old Sahadeo Bhagwandat known as ‘Jango’ and 46-year-old Ramdeo Sijogie known as ‘Bobby’, were reported missing since Saturday after the two ventured to the foreshore to ‘set’ seine intended to catch fish. The men’s bodies were found tangled in the very seine that they had set days earlier. Both bodies bore signs of decomposition.
Bhagwandat, a father of four, and husband to Rajkumarie Bhagwandat for the past 22 years, resided at Lot 8 Rail View, West Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara, while Sijogie lived a short distance away at Lot 188 Meten-Meer-Zorg, with his two brothers.
Family members, close friends and other residents of the area braved the inclement weather yesterday morning to catch a glimpse of undertakers removing the bodies from the foreshore.
With saddened demeanours some were heard speculating whether the men could have met their demise after becoming trapped in the seine. There were even questions asked as to whether the men could have been drunk when they were engaged in their seine setting activities.
Bhagwandat’s only son, Nankumar, had, along with other residents, formed a search party to find the men after they went missing on Saturday. The distraught young man told this publication yesterday that his father had been a fisherman for several years and had never encountered trouble before.
Nankumar disclosed that his father left home on Friday afternoon in the company of Sijogie to set the seine and the two had returned Saturday morning to retrieve it. He disclosed that his family became concerned when at nightfall, his father had not returned home. Moreover, several efforts were made to locate Bhagwandat. Neither man could be found at the foreshore or elsewhere.
The search party continued their efforts on Sunday but, again, to no avail.

Undertakers preparing to take away the bodies.

However, intensified efforts to find the men yesterday saw the search party returning to the foreshore where the dreadful discovery was made. “We went back to the foreshore and we see this trunks (pants) in the water under some stuff and the other was not far from him under a bridge close to a koker,” related Chetram Persaud, a member of the search party. He disclosed that the search yesterday had started around 06:30 hours and ended about two hours later.
“We have no idea if them drink because them left home early the morning …we don’t know how to judge what happen, all we know them left to come pick up the seine and we never see them back,” said Persaud.
He disclosed that during the search on Sunday it was observed that there was high tide and “water was pulling very hard; it was really rough.”
Family members of Sijogie disclosed that his death represents the second in the family within a one-week period. According to the dead man’s sister Maureen, who lives at Crane, West Coast Demerara, he has been working “at sea” for the past two years but was home for a few days and decided to “help out” Bhagwandat. “Me feel so sorry fuh meh brother because me hear that he de trying to call me a few days ago and he didn’t get on to me.” According to the sister who returned to Guyana about one week ago it has been a while since she last saw her brother. “I didn’t see him and now to hear he dead; it is very sad,” she added tearfully.