Relatives of TT murder suspect complain of harassment

– mother has no clue about son’s whereabouts

By Bhisham Mohamed

Three weeks have now elapsed since Ramesh Sookram, called Alvin, has been listed as a wanted man for the murder of 18-year-old Trinidadian Nikita Ramischand.

But there has been no trace of the man who is said to have fled back to Guyana and hiding somewhere on the East Coast of Demerara.

While the possibility of apprehending the man remains slim, his family is claiming that they are being terrorised and threatened by the victim’s relatives who pose as police ranks.

Sookram, 23, has been on the run since April 25 last, after Ramischand’s mutilated body was found near her home in Maracas, Trinidad.

He has not made any contact with any member of the family or close relatives.

Guyana Times International spoke with the man’s mother, Dhanwantie Sookram on Wednesday, who explained that her family are now living in fear and are forced to sleep at various locations at night. She recalled just a few days ago, heavily armed men stormed her home in Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara and terrorised her family, including her two sons, who are now nursing injuries from the beating they received.

“At first, the men identified themselves as police ranks, but during the ordeal, we realised that it was the relatives of the dead girl. They would come every night in the area patrolling to see if we are home,” the woman added. She further stated that the dead teenager’s father up to Sunday telephoned them from Trinidad threatening to wipe out the entire family. The man’s name was given as “Odai”.

“He bugging down the phone all day Sunday telling we how he go come, and kill all seven people who live in the house and take our bodies and bury it on the highway. He also said that he has people in high places and once we are dead, it is likely that my son will turn up for the funeral where he will be arrested,” she noted.

She has since reported the matter to the Timehri Police Station, East Bank Demerara, but noted that the lawmen have refused to take her complaint, despite her providing the telephone number.

“They said that it can be anyone calling to make the threats and not the girl’s father, but I provide them with the number that call my phone, but still they hold out that it could be someone else,” the woman said in tears.

She reiterated that while Alvin is her son, she cannot tell how he thinks, and more so what was the motive behind him killing his fiancée.

“Indeed, he telephone us the night before he returned to Guyana and tell us he was coming in. I personally collected him from the airport, but he left the following day without saying anything and never returned. It was one day after he left Soesdyke, we realised that he committed the act after seeing it in the newspapers,” the woman stated.

While, she does not want to speculate, she said that her son might be in Guyana, but the possibility also exists that he might have fled to Suriname.

“When he left, he collected one of my phones and I call the phone all the time but no time he ever answer.

Mother’s Day past and I thought he woulda call, but he didn’t. God knows if he is safe, but I urging he to turn heself in,” the woman added.

This publication understands that Alvin migrated to Trinidad three years ago, but met Ramischand just over three months ago after securing a job at the victim’s home as a construction worker. The couple started a relationship, but according to reports, the love affair took a turn for the worse when the young lady rejected Sookram’s marriage proposal.

Even after the young man left the job, he continued to meet the victim unknowing to her father. The young man reportedly began making threatening phone calls to the teen, and even scaled a razor-wire fence surrounding the family’s property making threats.

The suspect may have been further angered after the teen started a new relationship. It is suspected that the victim was walking to her mother’s salon when Sookram dragged her behind a guest house, slashed her throat, and stabbed her six times in the abdomen.