‘Obeah man’ wants back his children

LAWRENCE REID, the man who confessed in court to burning his dead child, is happy to have returned to his wooden shack in Point Fortin, which he calls home. After being locked up for two months at the Remand Yard, Reid said he found his one-room shack at Salazar Trace and his possessions intact —  just the way he left it. He said he spent Wednesday eating the food which neighbours offered him, and boiled yams to eat. He also fetched water from a nearby river, and by afternoon he was ready to retire to his mattress laid out on the ground. On Tuesday, Reid was granted his own bond of $30,000 by Point Fortin Magistrate Rae Roopchand while a probation officer’s report is being prepared. His “wife” Sandra was granted the same, and by afternoon the couple were released from custody.

Reid said the magistrate refused to inform him of 33-year-old Sandra’s whereabouts, because “he know if I go to see she, she will come back.” Reid said confidently: “I know she will come back.” Reid was jointly charged with Sandra for cremating the body of their 17-month-old daughter within 100 yards of a dwelling house; and disposing of human remains in a place not lawfully appointed; and with cremating remains without a valid permit.  Following a report by residents in the area, the couple were arrested on October 18. They pleaded guilty to the charges, and Magistrate Roopchand ordered psychiatric evaluation for them. He would say little about the charges brought against him, but appeared to be looking forward to Monday’s court decision. Reid claims that he is an “obeah man” who has healed people in the past.

“I have seen women and children rottening when they come here.They sit down right here (pointing to his gravelled yard).When they leave here they get up laughing. I am standing on scale and I could fall on any side,” he said. Reid also claimed to have found the cure for the deadly AIDS disease, but would not disclose his formula, or his method. Their three other children, aged six, four, and three, whom they called obscene names such as Zammy f..k, Stupidee, and Big Pr..k, were taken into the custody of child care services. Their father said he is missing them, and wants to bring them  back to his home. “They are mine, and it’s obvious I want them,” he said. Magistrate Roopchand will give his ruling on the matter on Monday.