THERE have been several letters and blogs written regarding the untimely passing of Sangeeta Persaud, and would like to add my views as well.  Most of them rightfully show the outrage and frustration by the general public on how such incidents can occur in this age and time when we are supposed to be living in a civilised world. First of all, my question to the Pastor, what qualification and experience do you have to diagnose someone being possessed?  Even if a member of your congregation seeks assistance because of your stature, you should know better.  You can be of absolutely no help.  You may be able to provide some comfort to the family by offering some prayers, but should have done that while Sangeeta was receiving proper medical attention instead of trying to heal her yourself.  The fact that you delayed her medical treatment for eight hours may have contributed to her untimely passing, if not totally responsible.
My second question is for the medical examiner.  How can the results of your examination be “inconclusive”?  This was the body of a 14-year old child and there is always a cause of death.  If you were unable to determine the cause, you should have sought assistance.  I would understand if the body was in a state of decay and the cause has been destroyed, but you had the body immediately following her death.   How can the Ministry of Health accept an autopsy report that finds the cause of death to be “inconclusive?”  Is this the kind of medical examiner being paid by the state?
The more important question is to the authorities in Guyana, what are you doing to prevent other Sangeetas in the future?  Obviously, many things went wrong for her.
Sangeeta is gone forever and not even knowing her, her story has brought great sadness for this was a mere child whose life has been snatched away from her.  Nothing we do can bring her back.  I honestly hope her death is not in vain, and the public will continue to demand justice for her and to ensure incident like this does not happen again.
I call upon the President of Guyana to take action to ensure there will be no more Sangeetas.  The buck stops at your door.  Please convene an independent and objective panel to investigate Sangeeta’s death and to make recommendations to prevent these incidents from ever occurring.