Annandale hit-and run…Lawyer, mystery woman offer $1.9M to dead teen’s parents

Dec 17, 2018 News

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– also offer to purchase medication for other victim still in coma
– claim driver has ‘run away to Suriname’

Is your child’s life worth $1.9M with $300,000 thrown in for his burial?

That’s what a Guyanese lawyer and a female Chinese national are offering the parents of 15-year-old Karcchan Khemraj, whose life was snuffed out by a hit-and run driver two Sundays ago, while his 15-year-old friend lies unconscious in hospital.
Jaipaul Khemraj, the teen’s father, said that the attorney, accompanied by another lawyer and an unidentified woman, turned up at the family’s Annandale, East Coast Demerara home at around 15:00 hrs on Saturday.
According to the father, the woman claimed to be a relative of the driver, but then claimed that she was “representing the Chinese.”
“The lawyer (name given) asked me how much money we want to settle the matter, but I tell he, we really poor and my son is the bread-winner; he used to work and take care of we family,” the father told Kaieteur News. Mr. Khemraj said he is blind in one eye and also has a heart ailment.
The father said that the attorney then suggested $1.6M to settle the matter and $300,000 for funeral expenses.
In turn, the father said he proposed $10M in compensation, but the attorney said that the offer was too high.
“He (the attorney) said that they can’t afford $10M and if the matter goes before the court it’s going to cost us $7,000 and we won’t get anything.”
The attorney reportedly pressed the family to accept the $1.6M, and allegedly told the grieving father that he should consult with his family about the cost of the funeral.
“The lawyer said that I should talk with my family and see how much money, they want for the funeral, cause I explain to him that we very poor and it’s some cousins and people in the village that helping we with the funeral,” Mr. Khemraj said.
This newspaper understands that when the family made inquiries about the whereabouts of the driver who caused their child’s death, they were told that he had run away to Suriname.
The attorneys and the woman then left, but promised to call at 18:00 hrs, after visiting the family of 16-year-old Reaz Shaw, who remains unconscious.
Kaieteur News understands that the attorneys and the woman then visited the home of the survivor, but the family was out.
A neighbour who said that she chided the visitors for trying to offer the family “money and food” while their child lay critically injured in hospital.

At around 09:00 hrs yesterday, the lawyer contacted Mr. Khermraj by phone. This time, he allegedly offered $1.9M and $300,000 for funeral expenses.
Later, the woman and the attorney visited the other family at the Georgetown Hospital, where they had gone to see their still-unconscious son, Reaz Shaw.
The father stated that the lawyer met him at the entrance to the ward. He also claimed that the Chinese woman said she was “a representative of the Chinese people,” and enquired about seeing his son.
The same woman then later alleged that she was a relative of the driver and that “her family in China” told her to check the family and to see whether they could assist them with “some money and food products.”
After visiting the injured child, the woman allegedly apologized and asked the father to grant forgiveness.
Shaw’s father further stated that the lawyer gave his phone number and said that the father could contact him for financial assistance.
The attorney reportedly then said that they could discuss financial compensation after the son recovered.
In a brief telephone conversation with Kaieteur News, the attorney confirmed that he had visited the injured teen. However, he terminated the call after Kaieteur News queried about the woman’s identity.
The attorney had told Kaieteur News last week that he was representing a female Chinese national at whose property, the suspected hit-and-run bus was found stashed.
Two Sunday nights ago, Karcchan Khemraj and his friend Reaz Shaw were cycling in Annandale when a minibus struck them.
The driver fled the scene.
Four days later, a Kaieteur News reporter located the vehicle, which was stashed at the back of a bakery in Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara.
The windscreen was shattered, the number plates were missing and the left side of the bus was damaged.
The bakery is reportedly owned by a Chinese woman, while the hit-and-run bus which bears Registration number GWW 2140, is reportedly owned by Chinese national, C. Wen, who has a store at Lot 10 Vigilance, East Coast Demerara.
The whereabouts of the owner of the bus are still unknown. However, Traffic Chief, Linden Isles told Kaieteur News that police are making diligent efforts to locate him.

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