Father still desperately seeks justice for murdered son

Nov 09, 2020 News

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…11 years later

By Malisa Playter-Harry

Kaieteur News – After 11 years and one day after the murder of Vivian Balrup, the perpetrators remain at large.

Balrup was 16 years old at the time of his demise but the pain of his death remains as fresh as it was 11 years ago to his father, Kirpaul Singh Balrup.
When young Vivian informed his father that he was heading out for an outing with friends, the senior Balrup did not know that date, November 8, 2009, would be the last day he would see his son alive. Vivian had gone to the beach with his girlfriend, a male and his girlfriend, along with the driver of a vehicle which transported them, who is known to Kirpaul as “Balak” formerly of Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, Berbice.
Kirpaul believes that “Balak”, who has since migrated, holds the answers to the questions left unanswered. He also believes that the girlfriend may have more information about that day since she too was attacked by the men who killed Vivian.
“We have not gotten justice,” Kirpaul stressed during a telephone interview. He said that he wants law enforcement officers to launch an inquiry into the death of his son since no one was arrested and charged for his death. He referenced the interest paid in the Henry boys’ matter and noted that his son also was killed in a brutal manner.
“I am a Guyanese, we feel just like how the parents of the Henry boys feeling. The Henry boys getting investigators from all over but I want justice too; they beat him bad too, this matter have eyewitness and still nobody hasn’t been charged,” he said.
Kirpaul said on the day his son died, he and his friends had hired a car driven by “Balak” and ventured to the Number 63 Beach, Upper Corentyne, Berbice. The girlfriend of Vivian had reportedly told police that she was sitting with him under a coconut tree when they were attacked by two men armed with large pieces of wood. She sustained minor injuries to her head but Vivian was beaten mercilessly to his head until he was unconscious. She had told police that after they were attacked she ran away, leaving Vivian behind.
But Vivian’s father is convinced that nothing was stolen from him since he still had $8000 in his possession and was wearing jewellery and a watch after the attack, all of which police handed over to him.
According to Kirpaul, his son’s girlfriend, his (Kirpaul’s) nephew (Mark Persaud), Persaud’s girlfriend and the driver were all arrested and questioned but shortly after released. He disclosed the evening after the killing, the girlfriend had called him over the phone and told him that she wanted to tell him everything about what took place that day on the beach but he said he didn’t listen and instead told her to talk to the police about whatever she knows.
“You know, I have to say that is the biggest blunder of my life that I didn’t listen to her then, I was grieving at that time but I should have listened,” he said.
He added that as time went by and justice, from all appearance, slipped further away, Stephen Mirai assumed the role of Police Commander of Region Six and reached out to him to investigate the case. But several Commanders later, the case remains unsolved. Kirpaul said he was intimidated by senior members of the Guyana Police Force during the time he pursued the path of getting justice for his son. He said too that Vivian’s girlfriend’s lawyer even sent him several lawyer’s letters demanding that “I desist from doing what I am doing.”
“What am I doing? I just want justice, that’s all,” Kirpaul stated. He revealed that he had even reached out to Joseph Harmon when the APNU+AFC won the 2015 elections but “that was swept under the carpet.”
Kirpaul stated that he was told that during the outing at the beach, there was another car (a Toyota 192) with two men that pulled up. The men were reportedly seen chatting and drinking with the driver his son hired. “Where are those men? Where is that car now? Those questions still linger,” Kirpaul said.
Some, soon after Vivian’s murder, had speculated that he may have been killed over some stolen watermelons. However, that theory apparently fell through the cracks since the case has not been solved. Kirpaul believes that sloppy investigations were done and there were too many “connections” that helped to push the case away from the microscope. He believes that there is enough evidence to pursue the matter.
Kirpaul mentioned that he visited the CID Headquarters sometime ago and had spoken with Crime Chief, Wendell Blanhum. He was then asked to contact a senior investigator from the Major Crimes Unit but revealed that he hasn’t heard anything since.
As he counts the years that have gone by without any justice being served, Kirpaul said that he still has hope that one day his son’s killers will face the penalty. As such he wants his son’s case re-opened and investigated again.
What has been reported.
On Sunday November 8, 2009, a taxi stopped at the Balrup’s Reliance, East Canje, Berbice home. Vivian then asked his mother to allow him to accompany his cousin, Persaud, to Number 63 beach. Persaud, the cousin, confirmed that they were joined by two girls. One of them was 15-year-old Susan Hernandez, the then girlfriend of Vivian. The taxi driver then took the friends to Number 63 beach where they passed a fenced watermelon farm.
Vivian reportedly picked two watermelons from the farm.
Persaud had told police that Vivian and Hernandez went for a walk together, while he, his girlfriend and the driver remained by the car. He told police that he then asked the driver to borrow the car and he drove along Number 63 Beach with his girl.
However, the car reportedly got stuck in the sand on the beach. By that time the driver had called and Vivian told him he was stuck.
The cousin claims that after about 30 minutes, the driver and two men in a gold-coloured Toyota AT 192 drove up. They were accompanied by a bloody Hernandez. There was no sign of Vivian.
According to Persaud, Hernandez alleged that she and Vivian were sitting under a coconut tree when someone came up and struck him. She reportedly said that the same person then struck her, causing her to fall. Persaud alleged that Hernandez said she managed to get up and run away, while the man continued to strike Vivian.
According to Mark Persaud, he suggested that they check on Balrup but the taxi driver insisted that they would have to wait until his car was unstuck. He said that the driver and his two friends in the gold-coloured car went to a nearby residence and borrowed a tractor which they used to pull out the stuck vehicle. They then went to the area where Vivian and Hernandez had been attacked.
Persaud said that Balrup was lying on the ground in a semi-conscious state. Reportedly on the taxi driver’s suggestion, they took the unconscious youth to the New Amsterdam Hospital.
Four watermelon farmers from the Number 63 beach area were detained but then released after Hernandez failed to identify any of them as the attacker.

 

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