Girl, 3, drowns in rain-filled hole

A three-year-old girl drowned Tuesday night when she fell into a hole six feet deep filled with rain water at the New Street, Caroni home of her grandmother. Rebecca Ramnath, who was eagerly looking forward to starting  pre-school next Tuesday, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex shortly after 7.30 pm on Tuesday. The water-filled hole into which Rebecca fell had been dug in preparation for an outdoor toilet. Her grieving relatives told Newsday that the child was left in the care of her grandmother, Lutchmin Baldeosingh, by her mother, Gita. The child was accustomed to sleeping at her grandmother’s home.

Reports revealed that around 6.45 pm, Lutchmin left Rebecca playing in the yard while she carried out chores inside the house. Five minutes later, she did not hear the child and carried out a frantic search. The almost lifeless body was discovered in a newly-dug hole located at the side of the house. The galvanize sheets used to cover the hole were removed late Tuesday by a relative prior to doing further construction on the toilet. The child was reportedly playing close to the hole when she slipped into the hole which had become filled with water during Tuesday’s heavy rain. Relatives told Newsday that they administerd CPR on the child and when they realised that the efforts were futile, officers of the Emergency Health Services were alerted.

They arrived on the scene 25 minutes after they were contacted and the child, then barely alive, was rushed to the EWMSC. Dr Datta pronounced her dead on arrival. At New Street, Caroni, yesterday relatives and neighbours gathered to lend support to Ramnath’s relatives while her mother and father were at the Forensic Sciences Centre St James for the autopsy. Relatives claimed that Rebecca was a jolly child who was fond of sweets. They said that she was the joy and “light” in the lives of her parents. Relatives said that Rebecca spoke clearly for her age and was loved by everyone who knew her. “Her death has caused mourning at New Street because Rebecca was known by several persons,” said her grandmother Lutchmin. Renee Ramnath, Rebecca’s seven-year-old brother, was in deep grief yesterday and told Newsday that his sister was a good girl and will be sadly missed. Newsday learned that the funeral will take place today and the cost of the funeral will be borne by the man who was constructing the outdoor toilet. A party of officers led by Inspector Raphael, Sgt Housend, Agt Ajith Persad and Ag St Corbett visited the scene.