Enal was doctor’s wife

At the funeral service relatives promised to hire local and foreign forensic experts in their quest to bring the killers to justice.

Close friend of Maharajh, Krishna Ramdial, said that Sumatee Enal, 37, was the doctor’s wife. He said the doctor told him that Enal was his wife, and described Maharajh as an intellect and scientist, but also a lonely and broken-hearted man.

Ramdial, who resides in Toronto, was one of several speakers at a simple service which was held at the Chacon Street home and was attended by scores of mourners. Common-law wife Enal, was under tight security during the service and cremation at the Shore of Peace by a group of bodyguards, attached to a private security firm, hired following her husband’s death.

At one point during the cremation at Mosquito Creek, Enal’s bodyguards formed a human shield around her to block her from photographers.

Uniformed police officers also kept a close watch on the proceedings. Enal and Maharajh’s relatives had been involved in legal battles for the right to the doctor’s body and estate. The funeral had been postponed on two occassions.

But last Wednesday Justice Peter Jamadar ruled in favour of Enal giving her control of Dr Maharajh’s body and assets. After the service yesterday Enal instructed the guards to ensure that no one remained on the premises.

Ramdial said Maharajh sometimes stayed with him when he travelled to Toronto and he had once asked Maharajh to take care of his business in San Fernando when he was not there.

Ramdial said Maharajh told him, "Sumatee was his wife and she was capable to looking after his business." Saying that Maharajh was always sad, Ramdial said that Maharajh confided in him that he desperately wanted to spend time with his father. "He longed to see his father and he died of a broken heart," he added. Ramnarine, 92, was not at the funeral.

Ramdial said that Maharajh always said he felt threatened in Trinidad. He felt he "always had to look over his shoulder" but in Toronto he felt free.

However Maharajh’s cousin, UNC MP Chandresh Sharma denied that the family was not close. "Apparently the speakers believe the family was not close but how do you measure that?" he questioned.

Sharma said he was close to the family, especially his cousins. Sharma said the family had launched their own private investigation into the murder. "One of the things he (Maharajh) said is if he was murdered everything possible would be done to bring justice. Last year we had 385 murders and the detection rate is less than 25 percent. Because of this we have engaged the services of local and foreign experts," Sharma said. He said the family had also made a request to have a burial instead of a cremation in the event that they needed a further examination of the doctor’s body, but that was not possible. In paying tribute to Maharajh, Sharma said the family and by extention all citizens have to work collectively to reduce the crime situation in the country.

Describing Maharajh as a scientist and an avid reader who had his own private collection of medical and science books, Sharma condemned the horrible way in which the doctor was killed. "We know that somewhere around are those who have killed him (Maharajh)," Sharma said.

During the service, Enal had to be consoled by her brother, Premnath after she broke down in tears while performing the funeral rituals on her husband’s body.

Also demanding justice, Karmesh Sharma, another of the late doctor’s cousins, said while Maharajh’s death was seemingly a mystery it was not a mystery to God. "God is waiting to level the playing field and will strike down those responsible," he added.

Close friend of the family, Anson Seukeran, who said he knew the doctor since he was ten years old, also condemned the brutal killing. He added, "Those who said Maharajh was not close to his family that is not true." Also expressing his condolences to the family was former Minister Trevor Sudama.