SANGEETA Persaud nicknamed ‘Sheena’, 14, of Lot 26 Canal Number Two Polder, who died under unusual circumstances, was yesterday buried at La Grange Cemetery, also on West Bank Demerara, following an emotional funeral service.
Scores of villagers and others crowded her home to get a glimpse of the teen’s body amidst loud wailing. Police said no one had been arrested up to yesterday but they are continuing investigations.
A post mortem examination, performed Wednesday on the corpse, proved inconclusive. The teenager died at the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH) on Sunday night after being rushed there by members of Christ Ambassadors Church, who had earlier allegedly tried to expel evil spirits from her.
She had began behaving strangely after having a cup of tea at breakfast time,Sunday morning, in the presence of her grandmother Chitranie Ramotar, 63, with whom she shared a small one bedroom cottage.
The elderly woman told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday that she and her granddaughter had awakened at 06:00 h and were breakfasting when the latter flung herself on the bed and started acting abnormally.
The woman said she became alarmed when the girl began shaking violently, the features of her face changed and her body twisted out of proportion.
Ramotar said it was sometime before Sangeeta responded to her enquiry about whether she was feeling pain and then, helplessly, convulsed out of control.
By this time her calls attracted neighbours and, in the crowd that gathered at the house, was the pastor, who insisted on taking the sick girl to the church building a short distance away, after declaring she was demon possessed.
In the presence of the girl’s mother, lime juice was poured down the teen’s throat while her stomach was pressed and body rubbed with oil until she was rendered unresponsive and groaning loudly.
During the attempted exorcism, the pastor was assisted by a few church members including, his wife, all trying to expunge the evil spirits from the girl.