–    Devastate the lives of Moonsammy’s 3 children
SOME of the most famous of Shakespeare’s plays revolve around the subject theme, and it is well known that the great Bard used incidences applicable to real life situations on which he based his very memorable plays.

However, every time this scenario is enacted and devastates real lives of present-day victims, the impact is the same on the psyche of society – which reacts with unadulterated horror and disbelief, because the circumstances which drive the innate bestiality of man to act with merciless brutality toward his fellowman always seem surreal to the normal human being.

The saga of obsession, betrayal and murder that eventuated in the brutal death of young Neesa Lalita Gopaul is the stuff of novels and films and should not, in any civilized society, have been allowed to reach the epic proportions that it did, except for the failure of humankind to protect its own.  We are no longer our brother’s keeper.

The saga of obsession, betrayal and murder that eventuated in the brutal death of young Neesa Lalita Gopaul is the stuff of novels and films and should not, in any civilized society, have been allowed to reach the epic proportions that it did, except for the failure of humankind to protect its own.  We are no longer our brother’s keeper.

Wealthy businessman from Crabwood Creek on the Corentyne, Moonsammy Gopaul, loved horse-racing; so every time he came to the city to transact business he would visit a popular racing service where he gambled large sums of money.

This caught the attention of a flashy teenaged employee of the establishment and she pursued him, finally catching his interest.  This developed into a relationship.

The businessman, although astute in entrepreneurial matters, like most men who had grown up in the country, was not very sophisticated – at least not in matters of a sexual nature, so he was prime material for a takeover by an enterprising family.

His obsession with the ‘educated and experienced’ teenager was so all-encompassing that he uprooted his entire life to move from the county of Berbice, where all his relatives and the family business were based, to the West Coast of Demerara, although he still retained responsibility of the import-export aspect of the business.
Moonsammy bought a two-flat house in Leonora, rehabilitated and furnished it with every possible luxury and modern conveniences.  He began living there with Bibi Shareema Khyoum, aka Naree, whom he later married following the birth of their first of two daughters, Neesa.

However, his daughter from his first marriage, Nalini, says that she was treated like a scullery maid by Naree.

According to Nalini, Naree’s family, who all lived in a house made of zinc in Anna Catharina when Moonsammy came into their lives through his relationship with Naree, subsequently began living comfortably, with some facilitated to live overseas.

Currently Naree’s parents, the elder Khyoums, live in a spacious well-furbished concrete structure, and the brother lives with his wife in a newly-built house obliquely opposite his parents home and owns a minibus; and they have never since gone in want of anything since Moonsammy’s advent into their lives.

In the meantime, his eldest daughter Nalini complained that she had been so alienated from her father’s affections by the machinations of a manipulative Naree and her relatives, who concocted many stories to show her in a bad light to her father, that she was forced to leave the home for good, shortly before her father died.

Nalini currently lives in a house that her mother gifted her, but because she was completely cut off from her father’s will, she is forced to work as a maid, although she receives some help from relatives.

Nalini said that when her father died, Naree did not inform his relatives but interred his body at about 3:00 pm on the same day, and that neighbours subsequently informed her that Naree’s lover, Barry Small, (allegedly) slept that same night in the house.

According to Nalini, the neighbours asked Naree if she knew what she was doing, because Small had an unsavoury reputation in the community and her response was that it was her life.

Nalini said that the neighbours told her that Small had moved into the house immediately and not the two weeks after the funeral, as has been related by Naree’s relatives.

She said that, from information she received, even when a restraining order to restrict Small’s access to Neesa had been granted, he was still seen by neighbours in the home and, according to Neesa’s grandfather, he always had keys to the house, even up to the time of the child’s murder.

Subsequent to her father’s death, Nalini, like the rest of her father’s relatives, had been cut off from any contact with the two children left in Naree’s care, with the telephone being cut off and the computer unavailable to Neesa. So she used to meet Neesa and enquire of her welfare at the school, but because of the hours that she worked this was rare, so after months when she got an opportunity to meet her younger sister she was told that Neesa no longer attended Queen’s College.

After trying for a while, she eventually got into contact with Naree who informed her that Moonsammy had left no money to support the children and that she could no longer afford to send Neesa to school.

Naree also reportedly told the teen’s concerned elder sister that Neesa had been getting drugs from her school and that her grades had dropped to the extent that she was failing all her term tests, so it was no longer worth sending her to school.

Naree indicated to Nalini that the latter’s approaches to the former’s children were not welcome, so she, like the rest of Moonsammy’s relatives, had no access to either of the children, until they heard the shocking news of Neesa’s death.

Neesa’s maternal grandmother, Abida Khyoum, had told Chronicle’s Telesha Persaud that “My daughter’s husband died and left her with so much.  She messed up her life and those of her children…me and my husband both suffering from heart problem…we now in we sixties and now for us to get all these worries…”

It is being conjectured that, when the monies and other valuables left in the house by Moonsammy had been exhausted, Neesa was forced to gradually withdraw monies over the past year until the bank accounts had become depleted, which only left the property, which she was inexorably being forced to sign over to her mother by the woman and other persons with vested interests, who had profited considerably from Moonsammy’s largesse.

However, Neesa was a brilliant girl who was very protective of her baby sister and was obviously aware that after she had signed, little Maria would have been the only barrier to the mother obtaining full rights over the property, with all its implications.

From her own terrible experiences, she was aware that her mother would not have protected the child from any atrocities, so, despite all the torture meted out to her, she adamantly refused to sign.

Maybe that drove a rage that resulted in her hand being broken, among other injuries, and knowing that Ministry officials had been looking for the abused teenager, this may have catalysed her murder, probably to avoid prosecution for the continuum of abuse evident from her broken hand.

Moonsammy’s younger brother, Poonsammy, with whom the former continued to conduct the family business, related that mere days prior to his brother’s death, Moonsammy had in his possession at home US$60,000, as well as much money in bank accounts to which Neesa had access by way of a bank card.

When Nalini went to the wake at the grandparent’s home, she asked the grandmother, Abida Khyoum if she could take her 5-year-old sister, Maria Gopaul, to spend a weekend with her, but she said the woman refused, despite the fact that the little girl was eager to go with her eldest sister, whom she asked to take her to “Royal Castle”, obviously recalling happier times when her father took all three siblings to enjoy meals and the fun park at the facility.

Nalini said neighbours told her at Neesa’s wake that, after the grandfather had returned Neesa to her mother, they called the grandmother to inform her that Small was still continuing to abuse Neesa, but instead of the woman taking steps to protect the helpless teenager, she stopped speaking to the neighbours.

According to Nalini, the neighbours related that after Moonsammy’s death and Neesa’s removal from school, the children were kept as virtual prisoners between Small, Naree, and Naree’s relatives, so Naree knew that Neesa had no way of disappearing because of the constant and relentless scrutiny under which she existed.

Neesa’s former teacher at Leonora Primary School, Ms Gopaul (no relative), related that Neesa absolutely loved and trusted her mother and that whenever Naree had cause to visit the school, Neesa would run and “snuggle” up to her mother, so she was shocked, during an encounter at a supermarket subsequent to Moonsammy’s demise, to see bruises indicative of battery on Neesa’s body.

Responding to Ms Gopaul’s queries, Neesa said her mother had accused her of stealing $100,000 and had beaten her.  Neesa told the teacher that she had no way of spending so much money and had suggested that “Uncle Barry” had taken it, whereupon she was beaten even more.

By that time Naree, who had been at the counter, had reached the duo and when the teacher said that she would have to report the matter because of the battery, Naree informed her that officials at the Ministry of Human Services were already dealing with it, which Neesa affirmed.

Ms. Gopaul said she subsequently left Guyana for a few months and was later shocked to the point of devastation when she learnt of Neesa’s tragic saga of suffering, which culminated in her brutal murder.

She said Neesa, who had placed 3rd in the school and 11th in the country at the 2006 SSEE examinations, had always been a quiet, reserved child who read any and every book she could lay her hands on during her spare periods and she could not visualize this child’s personality changing so radically and out of character that she deserved the kind of treatment that was meted out to her.

According to Ms. Gopaul, Neesa’s future had forecasted wonderful achievements because of the disciplined, well-mannered child and exemplary student that she had been.

Neesa’s former teacher angrily said that whomever is culpable for destroying such promise should be punished in the most severe way, with no mercy shown to them, because they had shown this innocent, helpless child none.

Ms Gopaul said that, subsequent to Neesa’s death, when all the stories were unraveling, she asked one of Neesa’s aunt why the grandparents did not keep the children, despite Neesa begging them to do so.

According to the teacher, the aunt’s response was that the grandfather, who was reportedly fully aware of all the terrible things that the young girl had been subjected to, said that Neesa had to live with her mother.

Nalini said her father was so in love with Naree that she controlled him totally, and that she was always (allegedly) moving out to live with other men, one time for six years, taking large sums of money and all the jewelry with her, and always returning with nothing except the clothes on her back.

She related an incident when Moonsammy had spent an entire day in the city to conduct business and clear a container, which he usually did, only to return home to discover that Naree and one of her sisters, who currently reside overseas and who was reportedly the one that had joined Naree in attempting to force Neesa to sign the property over to the latter, had emptied the house of everything.

When she returned after a while, she returned with nothing, as she usually did after one of her jaunts away from Moonsammy’s home.

It was related by neighbours that Naree, who begrudged Moonsammy giving anything to his elder daughter Nalini, had no limits to the gifts she bestowed upon her own relatives.

The neighbours related to Nalini that even after Neesa’s  funeral, when police visited the Gopaul’s home, the relatives used the opportunity to remove groceries from the house.

Nalini is concerned that the house would be depleted of all the valuables and furnishings by unscrupulous people.

Nalini said she knew of every occasion when Naree had left her father, because he would eat at her home during those times.

According to her, the last time she left was with Barry Small in August of last year, remaining away for approximately a month and only returning in mid-September.

Two weeks after her return, on 20th September, her husband died and Barry Small moved in, precipitating a life of unimaginable horror for Neesa and her beloved baby sister, Maria, who witnessed many of the instances of abuse perpetrated against her big sister.

Everyone finds it inexplicable that Naree’s relatives, all of whom knew of the travails of the two children, and who were the only persons allowed access to them by Naree, left them to suffer all the cruelties heaped upon them by their mother and her lover.

According to residents of Leonora, almost everyone knew of Barry Small’s cruel character, and Sadick Khan said that, although he loved dancing, being a salsa-merenge expert who led a group, he always rebuffed Small’s overtures to join forces to expand the group because of the man’s cold and cruel looks, as well as his reputation for feeding live animals to his pitbulls, among other reputed activities that were of a questionable nature.

Some residents of Leonora say that while exercising in Small’s gym they have used custom-made dumbbells similar to the ones used to weigh down Neesa’s body, which they conjecture was used to batter her head beyond recognition, with the face and skull completely obliterated with the force of the blows and the remnants of her skull driven into its own cavity, leading even police to conclude that her body was headless, until Government pathologist Nehaul Singh discovered the remnants of the child’s head that had sunken into itself.

The child had sustained many other injuries, including a broken hand.

Probably it was this broken hand during an instance of battery on the child, knowing that they were under the radar of Child Protection personnel, that precipitated her murder by the perpetrators, who were aware that questions would have been asked about her broken hand.

And Neesa had been known to complain about her sufferings to public officials.

Residents say that the dumbbells had been custom-made by a welder named Alim, whose father, according to the residents, always complained that Small was always owing his son money for the work Alim did for Small on the latter’s gym equipment.

Neighbours are claiming that police knew of Small’s treatment of Neesa and did nothing, because, apart from the child’s retracted complaint, they broke into a hotel room in Parika to look for drugs, saw Small in bed with the child, who was then evidently a minor, and left after not finding any drugs.
Neesa had subsequently related that Small had forcibly drugged her at the hotel and when she woke up her entire body was in pain, something that she said had happened frequently at the home, even while Naree was there.

Surely this man should have been charged with statutory rape, especially with the ranks that saw Small in bed with the child at the hotel being eyewitnesses to this criminal act.

Even now investigations should lead to charges being instituted so that, even posthumously, Neesa could receive some measure of justice for her suffering.

Eldest sister Nalini says that her father’s relatives, among whom she grew, are a very close-knit and loving family, and that her aunt Khrishnama and her husband can give her baby sister, who would turn six on the 6th December, a happy and secure life and a wonderful future.

She says that she has spent large portions of her childhood with the couple, all of whose children reside abroad, and that they always treated her kindly, without differentiating between her and their own children.

According to little Maria’s eldest sister, it would be a tragic travesty of justice if the child is left with the sickly grandparents, who left them to suffer the worst cruelties at the hands of their daughter; or even if Naree’s sister is allowed custody to take the child to live with her in Barbados.

Moonsammy’s relatives are worried because the child is now the sole owner of the father’s property and are concerned that if she is taken out of the jurisdiction of the authorities of Guyana, then her fate may very well duplicate that of her sister Neesa’s, with none the wiser, just as no one in Moonsammy’s family had known what was happening with Neesa.

Moonsammy’s relatives want the State to sell the property, as is, including the car, maybe to a member of the Diaspora, and put the proceeds in a trust fund for the child until she reaches maturity, because they have enough resources to keep her in the lap of luxury – according to her aunt Khrishnama, like the “princess” that her father called her.  She said that they will cherish their brother’s last charge.

On Thursday 15th October, little Maria Gopaul’s aunt Krishnama Sukhra filed a motion in the High Court seeking sole custody of the child.

On a visit to Crabwood Creek, Chronicle investigated the Gopauls and discovered that their claims are all valid – that they are a financially secure family, with much resources; and also that they live with a great deal of love among family members, with aunt Khrishnama and her husband Sukhra, who want to adopt little Maria, living alone in a luxurious and spacious home.

Experts in child psychology say that Maria Gopaul is young enough to forget her terrible experiences if she is removed entirely away from people and the environment who and which will remind her of all the bad things that happened in her family after her father died.

According to eldest sister Nalini, and all those to whom the Chronicle spoke, especially those on the West Coast of Demerara who knew of the mother’s family’s lack of concern for the children’s sufferings, the loving nurturing promised by the Gopaul family in Crabwood Creek can provide the child the best opportunity for healing and growing up with minimal emotional and psychological scars.
The system should not fail Maria as it did Neesa.