State property killed my son

THE EDITOR: I left work on June 30 2005 at 2 pm and went home where I saw in my kitchen a lot of villagers standing. No one spoke to me. I walked through the crowd and saw my son lying on the floor. His head area was surrounded by a lot of blood. His wife, my daughter and my wife were screaming, bawling, crying and begging me to help my son. I felt his body. It was warm. I called out to him. In my arms his body began to get cold. I could not believe it, my first child, my son, he was dead. I still can’t comprehend that he is dead. He worked long hours and I am always sitting and waiting, thinking he is at work and then I am jolted into reality so many times.

My son, Uttamdeo, he spent all his boy days in his books, long hours, so many courses, so much money, the sacrifice, all in order to have his own. To be his own man. My wife Kaylyn, in the safety of our home, beaten in the head and shot in the shoulder, bleeding and hysterical, begging me to do something. My young daughter, my last child, she heard and saw everything. They hit him on his head with the gun, ransacked my house, got jewels and money. They shot him in the leg. He fell on the ground. They dragged my daughter by her neck, saying they would take her, he told them no, take everything and go but leave my sister alone. They lifted him from the floor and tied his hands. They placed a gun to the side of his face in front his right ear. He clasped the palms of his hands together and begged and prayed for them not to shoot him, not to kill him, to spare his life. He choked on his words with fear. They pulled the trigger. The gun did not go off. He probably felt relief. They pulled the trigger again. My daughter saw his body collapse.

Uttamdeo and his wife were outside the house when they heard a noise and his mother’s scream. He told his wife to run and hide while he went inside. He distracted them and his mother ran off. As his body fell, the one holding my daughter’s neck dropped her. She rolled beneath a shelf as they fled. The police has admitted that the murder weapon belongs to the St James Police Station. The property of the State. A tragic betrayal. Nothing can compensate, but would the State be made to pay for the destruction of my family and my son’s own? Because of the negligence of the State we have suffered the loss of Uttamdeo’s life. I never knew of the existence of the feelings I now experience. The driver of the getaway car was rewarded with six months in prison for his contribution.

RAMESH   G   MARAJH
Palo Seco