Non Pareil murder/suicide still fresh in family’s mind

Apr 12, 2015 News

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…as one year anniversary draws near

By Desilon Daniels
Simone’s screams pierce the silence of the Non Pareil community; beside her, her mother Latchmie

is frozen with shock, staring down at the motionless body of her other daughter, Nandanie. A few feet away a man hangs suspended from the ceiling, clearly dead.
On the evening of April 27, 2014, the body of Nandanie Mohan, 27, was found by her sister Simone and her mother Latchmie in the Non Pareil home she shared with her reputed husband, Vickram Ramdin. Ramdin was also found dead that very evening in what was apparently a murder/suicide.
Nandanie had been a mother who had dedicated her life to her two young children and had primarily been supporting them by working as a salesgirl in a snackette. Days after her murder, Nandanie’s story had been on the lips of numerous persons, particularly those of the residents of her home village, Mon Repos.
Nonetheless, her name quickly faded and has become yet another statistic in Guyana’s long and bloody history of domestic violence. However, her memory still lives on with her relatives who struggle daily with coming to grips with her premature death.
Nearly one year after Nandanie’s death, her mother Latchmie maintains that the murder is still a difficult one to comprehend. Latchmie had been forced to bury her child and is now tasked with taking care of her daughter’s offspring.
The woman explained that her daughter’s children have been living with her since the murder, a living situation she admitted is sometimes difficult to handle. Omardat is an energetic 12-year-old boy while his sister is 8-year-old Sabrina.
“It’s been hard providing for them; my husband is doing guard work three days a week and I’m a housewife. My daughter had helped so much in providing for us and her children and now she’s gone. But wha’ me gon’ do?” Latchmie questioned.
Each weekday, Latchmie said she would wake up long before sunrise to prepare lunch for the two children. Already exhausted, she would then wake them up and help them prepare for the day ahead.

“It’s hard, starting back with dealing with young children at this age. I never expected I would have had to do this, especially under these circumstances,” the 49-year-old woman said. She continued, “You know how at this age they’re mischievous, but I can’t give up on them; I got to try.”
Fortunately, she said, the children are often helpful and would assist as much as possible in the home. She said too that though things had been slowly improving, it had been a long journey filled with highs and lows.
Latchmie explained that Sabrina had suffered a setback in school last year following her mother’s death, but was slowly improving. Omardat had also suffered similarly but had been aided by a teacher in the area who had sympathized with the family. The young boy recently wrote his National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) and is preparing for high school.
Latchmie said too that the children would still sleep with her and her husband each night.
“We used to hear Sabrina talking a lot in her sleep and jumping out of bed,” Latchmie said before adding, “Anthony [Omardat] used to get up and call out for his mother. One time he tell we that he dream she and how she tek him to get his pictures taken,” she recounted sadly.
“There’s really nothing we can do but hug him up and try to help him through it,” the grandmother said.
The woman said that questions also still persist, even a year later. “They would ask we, ‘wha side we mommy and daddy gone?’ and I could just tell them that they mother gone to Heaven.”
‘THAT IS NOT THE DAUGHTER I RAISED’
After Nandanie’s strangled body had been found by her sister and mother last year and word had spread of her death, rumours surfaced almost immediately. These rumours included claims of infidelity on the dead woman’s part.
However, Latchmie maintained that the rumours were not true and were contrary to the daughter she knew and loved.
“It got some people who seh that he shouldn’t ah kill she, while it got some others who saying how she had other man and thing,” Latchmie related. “It makes me feel so bad because I never hear anything like that in all the years my daughter grew up; that is not the daughter I raised, so I don’t believe it,” she added.
Latchmie further said that the rumours have made coping even more difficult. She said she has finally gotten around to clearing her daughter’s items out of the home in which she died and is hoping to rent the home out to supplement her family’s small income.
“It’s so hard having to go through all of the stuff; it’s like living it through all again,” Latchmie admitted.
The relationship with her daughter’s in-laws is also now fraught with tension. Though both sides of the family had known each other for more than a decade since Nandanie and Vickram met in high school, the murder/suicide had understandably driven them apart.
“Dem two [Nandanie and Ramdin] done dead already but now the two sides suppose to come together and make things better for the children, but is like they don’t want that,” Latchmie lamented.
As her daughter’s death anniversary draws nearer, Latchmie is adamant that the family must remain positive and celebrate her life. She also cannot imagine her life now without the two children nearby to remind her daily of her daughter.
“I get so used to having them here now so I don’t know what I would do if they weren’t here anymore,” Latchmie said. She continued, “Me miss her loving ways. She used to always call me and gaff with me. Any time she had any problem she would complain to me about them.”
She also remembered her daughter as very hardworking. “She made sure she worked hard and though it wasn’t a lot of money, she would put all of her money into dem children,” Latchmie said. She continued, “She was also a good mother; the children never gave a single complaint to me about their mother.”
“When she came around she would bring life and light with her. I will always miss that.”

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