Unsolved Murders: Who murdered Anita Persaud?

Nov 05, 2023 News

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Kaieteur News – This is the question living rent free in the minds of a Good Faith Mahaicony family to this day. The birth of a child is one of the most joyous occasions in a family and children are often the pride and joy of their parents. While some unions may bear multiple children of both genders, some may not be so lucky. Nevertheless, no parent wants to know what it feels like to lose an offspring.

Unfortunately for Mr. and Mrs. Persaud, a little over 22 years ago death came knocking at their door and their little girl was snatched away from them in one of the most brutal manners possible. Sunday, August 19, 2001 is the date that is etched in the memories of the Persauds forever, as the day they lost a jewel.

Anita Persaud was the couple’s daughter; she was a lively18-year-old who was engaged to be married the following year to her fiancé who lived abroad. Neatly clad in a pair of white pants and a green blouse, she left her parent’s home on Sunday August 19, 2001 at Good Faith Mahaicony to visit the Satya Cinema, a corner away from her home.

Around the time she left the house, the only other occupants in her immediate surroundings were her father Ramesh Persaud and a friend who were reportedly in the back yard, engrossed in fixing an outboard engine. The teen’s father would later relate that he assumed she had joined her mother two buildings away at a wedding house.

Upon her return, his wife informed him that their daughter had sought her permission to go to the cinema. Thinking that she was indeed there and considering the fact that she had her own keys to the family’s home, they retired for the night.

Anita’s room door was shut the next morning and assuming that she was catching up on some beauty sleep after her night out, everyone went about their business, failing to check in on her. When Anita failed to make an appearance from her room around 09:00hrs, her mother decided to check on her only to find her room empty.

The wedding her mother that attended continued into the next day and the family enquired of the guests if they had noticed Anita passed by, unfortunately no one had seen the young woman. A friend of their eldest son had told him that he saw Anita walking on the Mahaicony Public Road, and he in turn passed the information to the family. Subsequently, a report was made at the Mahaicony Police Station.

The police enquired if Anita had a boyfriend. Her mother explained that Anita could not run off with her fiancé, since he lived overseas. On her way home from the police station, her mother noticed a familiar object on the road. It was a shoe that in fact looked like the one her daughter wore. She picked it up and took it home.

She remembered the shoe during a conversation with her husband about the places her daughter can possibly be. Even though she returned to the police station with the shoe, everyone including the police, were still of the belief that Anita ran away with her lover.

Anita’s aunt on her mother’s side lived in Corentyne, Berbice and her mother travelled there while being hopeful that her daughter had gone to the Ancient County. The trip proved futile. Her sister had no information to offer with regard to her child.  Tuesday, August 21, 2001, Persaud sent her eldest son to question the friend who said he has seen Anita walking in the company of a boy.

He came running back breathless and gasping, shortly after frantically pointing to the canal that ran in front of their home. “Body floating,” he eventually mumbled. The family rushed to the canal, and saw Anita lying face down, with a rope around her neck and clad only in her white pants.

The autopsy reportedly revealed that her lungs had traces of mud, which suggested that the young woman was still alive when she was dumped overboard. Four suspects were detained shortly after, including two brothers convicted twice for murder and freed on appeal. Since they were all reportedly able to provide alibis for the night Anita went missing, they were released.

Mr. Persaud and his friend who were reportedly fixing the boat engine on the fateful day Anita left home were also detained along with the mother. Her mother was released the following day but her father spent 72 hours in police custody before being released. No one else was ever arrested.

What do the parents believe transpired on that fateful night?

Anita’s parents’ theory is that a gang abducted Anita, took her out of the area, then brought her back and dumped her, still alive, in the canal near her home. But what is left unanswered is why would this ‘gang’ take a risk of transporting their victim back to the scene from where she was abducted?

As for the young man who had claimed to have seen Anita walking with a boy on the night she was killed, he reportedly later told the family that he had made the story up as a joke. At Mrs. Persaud’s request, Anita was buried near a tree in the family’s backyard. “She hadn’t a chance to live a full life, because some selfish person or persons took her away from us,” Mr. Persaud told Kaieteur News, some years ago.

“The thought that these persons have not been brought to justice rips at our hearts each day. That is what we have been feeling and may have to live with for the rest of our lives. But I know that there is a God, and whoever killed our daughter will come to justice someday.”

To date, no one was charged for the murder of Anita Persaud and it’s an unanswered question that will always be lingering in the minds of her loved ones, “Will justice ever be served?”

If you have any information about this or any other unusual/ unsolved case, please feel free to reach out and contact Kaieteur News at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown office. Our numbers are 592-225-8458, 592-225-8465, 592-225-8482 and 592-225-8491. You need not disclose your identity.

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• Anita Persaud, children, Good Faith Mahaicony family, Mahaicony Police Station, Unsolved Murders

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