…Q.C. students wail, sing school song in touching farewell at funeral
Hundreds of mourners, including scores of students from Queen’s College, family members, relatives and others waited for almost four hours before they got a glimpse of the wooden coffin bearing Neesa Lalita Gopaul’s body yesterday at her grandparent’s home at Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara.
Initially, the funeral was scheduled for 13:00 hours at 15 Anna Catherina Seaview, West Coast Demerara. But following complications, including the late release of the body from the mortuary after a post mortem, and the closure of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana’s minibus bearing the body of the16-year-old arrived at about 16:00 hours.
There hundreds crowded around the minibus to get a glimpse of the wooden box with the teenager’s body; shortly after, students from the school Neesa attended, Queen’s College, sang the school song lustily, even though they were not granted permission to do so.
The deceased had dropped out of school in Form Four, but her school mates were determined to bid her farewell in the way that they best knew.
Some students cried, others screamed Neesa’s name, while her relatives stood by obviously overwhelmed by grief.
Her five-year-old sister clung to the minibus and cried as she waved goodbye to her only sibling as the bus drove off, some minutes after arriving at her grandparents’ home.
The minibus drove to the Leonora Muslim Cemetery, where jaanaza was read and the body was interred.
According to Muslim custom, only men were allowed in the cemetery to witness the burial.
Relatives who viewed Neesa’s body yesterday said that the teenager was not beheaded as was believed, but her entire face was bashed in and only a part of her head was still there.
Some were disappointed when they were told that the coffin was not to be opened.
Although a post mortem was performed yesterday, the police did not release a report of the findings; and when contacted, Police Public Relations Officer John Sauers told the Guyana Chronicle that he was not in receipt of the information.
Relatives of the deceased teenager were quite distraught and could not comment on the post mortem results, but wished that justice would be served in the murder of their loved one, whose life was made a living hell by sexual abuse and drugs.
Three persons including, Neesa’s mother and stepfather are in police custody as investigations into the murder continue.