HAUNTED BY DEATH

First, prison officer Robert Seecharan, 36, was killed with his licenced firearm at the hands of a teenaged relative. Two weeks after his death, Seecharan’s common- law wife Sherry Ann, 35, took her own life by consuming a poisonous substance. Now, one month later, Sherry Ann’s daughter is now warded in serious condition at San Fernando General Hospital after drinking a toxic substance at the family’s Barrackpore home on Sunday night.

The teen was found frothing from her mouth in a bedroom of the house by a relative. Police reported that a bottle containing paint thinners was found on the ground nearby. The young woman was rushed to hospital in an ambulance. Medical sources said that up to late yesterday she was undergoing psychiatric assessment and counselling at the hospital.

In July, Seecharans’ brother-inlaw Cyrus Joseph, was shot and killed in his garden in Barrackpore in full view of his two children.

On July 29, Seecharan was shot and killed with his licenced firearm during a domestic dispute while he and his family members were returning to their Barrackpore home following a beach outing.

His teenaged step-daughter accepted responsibility for firing the fatal shot telling investigators she did it to save her mother’s life.

It was reported that Sherry Ann, a housewife, was the victim of domestic violence during the couple’s five-year relationship but loved her common-law husband so much that she said she couldn’t live without him. Following Seecharan’s death, Sherry- Ann and her two daughters were taken in for questioning and subsequently released when the Director of Public Prosecution ordered no charges be laid.

Sherry-Ann never recovered from the heartbreak over the death of her common-law husband and on August 12, took her own life by ingesting a toxic substance. Since the death of her mother and step-father, Newsday learnt that the young woman had been staying with her father but had become withdrawn. When Newsday visited the teenager’s grandmother Samdaye Rangoo at Ragoonanan Trace in Barrackpore yesterday, the elderly woman was wiping away tears.

“Is like we can’t catch ourselves in this family. It is too much for me to bear...I just can’t take it any more,” she cried. Rangoo said she received a telephone call from another relative yesterday morning informing her that the teenager had drank a poisonous substance.

“They told me she tried to kill herself and she was taken to the hospital,” Rangoo said. The 62-year-old woman said since the death of her son-in-law (Joseph), she has not been able to sleep comfortably. “As I was beginning to cope with his death, my other son-in-law Robert (Seecharan) was killed. I could not yet catch myself from his death when my daughter Sherry Ann ended her own life. And now my granddaughter drink poison. Is only so much a person can take,” she cried.

Rangoo said she prays everyday for protection for all her family members. Following the deaths, counsellors of the Children’s Authority worked with the young woman and members of the Seecharan and Joseph families.

The teenager was said to have been responding positively to the conselling sessions. Rangoo said despite the counselling, both families still struggle to cope. The teen remains under close observation at hospital.

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"HAUNTED BY DEATH"

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