Solving the Henry Boys and Haresh’s Murders

Jan 16, 2021 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

In reference to your news reports (KN Jan. 14, 15), I am pleased to read that the police appeared to have solved the murders of the Henry boys of West Berbice; the killings led to days of violence against Indians. The arrested killers of the Henry boys are Indians but race was not a factor in their killing. The police determined that drug was the factor in the killings. Apparently, the three accused and the two Henry boys knew each other as we are learning from the police reports. Apparently, they were with each other on the night of the killing. Why the boys were killed will be determined at a trial.
It was wrong for the accused to kill the boys. It was a heinous crime. The accused, if found guilty, must go to the gallows.
Race seemed to have been a factor in the killing of Haresh Singh; he could have been killed in reprisal of the two Henry cousins or because he knew the Henry boys – wrong place at the wrong time. Haresh was also a friend of the Henry boys.
As I penned from the outset in August, the killings were drug related. The police were looking at the wrong causes for the killing. Coconut was never a reason for the killing. And the police initially held the wrong people for the killings; police did an injustice to those people. It was the police’s confinement of owners and workers of the land where the bodies were found that led to the wave of racially inspired violence against Indians.
I happened to have studied criminology when I did my Sociology doctorate. The gruesome manner in which the two boys were killed immediately suggested to me it was drug related. I penned accordingly and suggested that the police examined a drug angle.
Haresh’s killing was tied to the murders of the Henry boys. But what is not determined is why he was killed? Was it a race related reprisal killing? Did he know something? Did he know who killed the two boys and was silenced? Did he stumble upon some drug evidence? Did he know who harvested the marijuana and burned the fields that angered the killers of the Henry boys? Was there in-fighting over Ganja fields? The three accused are not angels. They seem to have lived a life of crime, moving from one location to another, typical of growers of marijuana. The police will in due time provide answers to the above questions. Now that the police have solved the killing of the Henry boys, they need to do same with Haresh’s unsolved case.
Clearly, as inferred from the police, there was a turf war over marijuana fields. In reading media reports, it is clear that the three accused come from different areas. They were lured to the planting of marijuana. It is a lucrative business and apparently they have been in the business for a while. As we learn, the three accused were angry over their weed being harvested and the fields burnt. But they were not certain who harvested and burnt the fields. They can’t go around killing people. Drugs are a killer not only because it destroys one’s health. But it destroys the brain. The killers’ behaviour is unacceptable even if they killed the boys while they were under the influence of weed, not acting rationally. They must be brought to justice and it must be done expeditiously. Such a crime must not be tolerated. And strong measures are needed for drug related crimes.
Drug is a big problem in the country. All over, youngsters are smoking weed. Government needs to address this menace. As I learn from my studies in criminology, when a person is intoxicated from drugs, they act irrationally. They lose their senses. They engage in violent acts. It is a danger to human life; measures must be taken to deter smoking of weed. Police must make raids on weed fields.
The police have not made any arrest on Haresh Singh’s killing. Now that the police have solved Henry boys’ killings, the people who killed Haresh Singh must also be brought to justice. It would be good if police can bring Haresh’s inquiry to a closure as well.

Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram

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