Boat captain, worker held as two bodies discovered; one still missing

Feb 11, 2021 News

Trio missing after using Suriname backtrack crossing…

By Malisa Playter-Harry

Dead: Babuni Harihar.

Dead: Alwin Joseph.

Kaieteur News – Authorities in neighbouring Suriname, acting on information provided to them by their Guyanese counterpart, have detained the boat captain accused of abandoning three Guyanese on a sandbank in the Corentyne River. Sources close to the investigation divulged that the boat captain and a man that works with him turned themselves into authorities in the Dutch country. They were subsequently detained, and are being questioned by Dutch police, as they try to piece together details to determine how the three persons were left in the waters.

Still missing: Sherida Hussein.

Sherida Hussein, 48, of Pilot Street, New Amsterdam, Berbice; Alwin Joseph of No.65 Village and Babuni Harihar, 75, were reportedly dropped off on a sandbank in Corentyne waters around 02:00 hrs. Tuesday. The trio had boarded the boat in Nickerie, Suriname. However, although they had gotten close to home, they never made it back to their relatives here.
Police confirmed yesterday that two bodies have since been recovered. They have been identified as Alwin Joseph and Babuni Harihar.
Kaieteur News was informed that sometime around 06:00 and 06:30 hrs., a fisherman by the name of Ramdial Lakeraj of Middle Dam, No.65 Village, Upper Corentyne, and his son, Danraj Lakeraj, stumbled upon the body of a male on the No.60 foreshore. They made contact with the police, who arrived at the scene shortly after. The police are said to have examined the body but no marks of violence were noticed. The body was subsequently identified as Alwin Joseph by a family friend.

The area where Joseph’s body was found.

The area where Harihar’s body was found

“Abay na see no marks of violence but we na cudda go close, the police na want we go close. Dem find he body at 60 side on the shore, he had on a blue soldier vest and a short trunks and he na had nothing more,” Afeek Ali, one of Joseph’s friends, told this publication.
Just about two hours later, the police were again summoned to a location at No.70 Village by another fisherman of Lot 181, No.70 Village, Upper Corentyne. He had reported that he discovered the body of a female lying in a clump of bushes along the beach shore. The hands and feet of the body were peeled, and based on an ‘on the spot’ examination by authorities who arrived at the location, there were no visible marks of violence on that body as well. Police however stated that a black and white Adidas haversack was found not far from the body. The bag, police said, contained a quantity of clothing and a Guyana ID with the name Sookranie Harry. Also just about 400 meters away, a black travelling bag and a black purse were found. That also contained clothing and a Guyana ID card with the name Babuni Harihar. Both bodies were taken to the Skeldon Hospital and Harihar’s body was identified by her granddaughter, Nadira Valdez.
Additionally, daughter of Harihar, Sunita Sukhra, told reporters that her mother left for Suriname to see her grandchildren in Suriname, since COVID-19 and the restrictions had prevented her from visiting them, as she usually would do before the pandemic.
“When she reached, she wanted to come back after spending some time and we kept telling our sister over there don’t let her come over in the night because she is not seeing well and she is big. I don’t know if they decided to put her in a boat, we didn’t get a call that she was coming. We got a call when they already dropped her and called my son-in-law to ask if she reached home and then he told them no,” Sukhra said. The grieving daughter disclosed that her son-in-law then got in contact with the boat operator and questioned him where he dropped them off.
“He said he dropped them on a sea bank in the river and he didn’t realise that the distance is far away from the shore so when he checked back, they were already gone,” Sukhra said.
The two bodies that were found were subsequently moved to the Anthony’s Funeral Parlour, where a post mortem is expected to be done shortly.

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