Post-mortem finds lad died from cerebral haemorrhage, other injuries

THE orphaned 17-year-old Haresh Roth, whose motionless body was found along the Number 66 Village thoroughfare on Tuesday, succumbed as a result of cerebral haemorrhage and multiple injuries, according to the findings of an autopsy conducted by Dr Vivikanand Brijmohan at the Skeldon Hospital on the Upper Corentyne Coast in Berbice.

Roth’s body has since been handed over to relatives, and burial took place yesterday at the Number 66 Cemetery.

His uncle, Anand Punwasie told the Guyana Chronicle that Roth’s family members are very grateful to the general public for the financial assistance received, because it afforded the teenager the opportunity to get a decent burial. However, he is still pleading for a thorough police investigation into the lad’s demise, as he is of the opinion that his nephew was murdered.

Incidentally, in 2003 Walter Roth, father of the deceased, was murdered a short distance from where his son’s body was found, and nobody was ever held culpable for the offence. Besides that, his mother Hemwattie set herself ablaze a year after her husband’s death, probably because she had been unable to deal with the challenges of raising her five children alone.

On Monday July 28 last, while Punwasie was on his way to the Number 66 Fishing Complex to purchase fish, he was drawn to the large crowd that had gathered on the roadway. He subsequently discovered that the crowd had surrounded the motionless body of a male of East Indian ancestry. A closer look resulted in him identifying the individual as his nephew, Haresh Roth. His bloodied face was turned downwards, a shirt was tied around his neck, and his pants had been pulled below his knee.

“My nephew had severe injuries to his head, neck and abdomen,” recounted Punwasie.

Roth, who leaves to mourn four siblings, had last been seen on Monday evening at his Number 69 village home, which he had left to visit a nearby shop.

Investigations are continuing.

(By June Bailey Van-Keric)