Missing and murdered women…CADVA, dissatisfied with investigations, wants answers

Mar 05, 2017 News

---

By Rehana Ahamad
The insistence of the Caribbean American Domestic Violence Awareness group, (CADVA) led

to police ranks getting their hands dirty. This eventually resulted in the Guyana Police Force solving the six-year-old mystery of what happened to Babita Sarjou.
It turned out that the young mother of one was killed and buried in the yard of the home she once shared with her husband. He has since been arrested and the legal proceedings are ongoing. The police force was duly lauded for its efforts, which brought some amount of closure to Sarjou’s family.
But this is merely a matter of one down, many more to go. There are still many families craving justice for the women in their lives who have been killed, or have gone missing without a trace.
“Or perhaps a trace that the authorities are failing to follow,” Head of CADVA, Dianne Madray wondered.
It was eight months ago that Crime Chief, Wendell Blanhum, signalled his intention to reopen the 2010 murder case of Sheema Mangar, the 21-year-old Demerara Bank employee who was run over by a car driven by the man who snatched her Blackberry cell phone. But since last July, Mangar’s mother, Radica Thakoor, has not heard anything from the police in relation to her daughter’s case.
For seven long, painful years, her heart has been aching to see the man responsible for killing her baby girl, behind bars.
When Thakoor heard of the breakthrough with the Babita Sarjou case, there was some amount of relief in her bones. She was sure that in the matter of weeks, the capable Crime Chief would be able to reverse all the wrongs and botched investigations previously executed by the police force.
She had hope that the man responsible for heartlessly taking her daughter’s life, would immediately be found and made to face the consequence, but this didn’t quite happen the way Thakoor imagined it would.
“Since the announcement was made, I haven’t heard back from the police. I really don’t know what is going on. I don’t know wha happening again,” a troubled Thakoor said yesterday.

When contacted yesterday, Blanhum said that he could not comment on the Sheema Mangar investigation, but noted that efforts are ongoing to find her killer. CADVA’s Dianne Madray is however, not very convinced.
She is questioning the intentions of one of the police ranks (name provided) who has been working the investigations of not only Sheema Mangar, but also in relation to Shonnette Savory, the young Prospect, East Bank Demerara resident who has been missing for about seven months now.
“I had some issues on my last trip because I called out the officer and his superior became very angry. I ended up walking out. This officer is also working on the Shonnette Savory case, and I don’t feel like they have gone forward on any of these cases,” Madray said.
She noted that Crime Chief Blanhum had cautioned her, saying that she was wrongfully accusing the officer. However Madray is firm in her belief that the sluggishness of the Sarjou, Mangar and the Savory cases, has as much in common as the rank carrying out the investigations.
“It can’t be a coincidence. Even the Sarjou file disappeared until I called that out,” Mangar reminded.
The women’s rights activist told this newspaper that she is not trying to impose on the work of the Guyana Police Force, but she wants to dry the tears of those mothers who are just as heartbroken as they were when they first heard of their children’s death or disappearance.
“I am not a threat to them (the police force). I am there to help these families. They have not provided any information on neither the Mangar nor the Savory Case,” Madray said.
The woman said that she is at a loss to understand why the police are still unable to provide any update on especially the Mangar case, given that the force had much evidence to work with.
“These cases are dragging slowly. With Sheema I feel there is some kind of cover up again, going back to the vehicle. They had even found it and taken DNA samples.”
Madray, who is currently overseas, is planning to return to Guyana soon, to meet and request a follow up with Public Security Minister, Khemraj Ramjattan and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
“It is very heart breaking. Just as with Mangar, nothing is happening with Savory’s case. The mother lives in New Jersey and is in distress. She has not been getting answers. All these families…mothers are crying out for justice and little is done.”
Madray believes that families should not have to suffer for six years like Babita Sarjou’s mother did, to get answers.
“This begs the question of where the funding is going when they talk about violence against women,” Mangar pointed out.
She added, “After the Sarjou case, they were opening a few cold cases. I want to know, did these go cold again?”

---

---