A 54-YEAR-OLD security guard was yesterday pronounced dead seconds after he arrived at the Diamond Diagnostic Hospital following a severe beating he suffered, allegedly, at the hands of persons who attempted to rob his workplace, a construction site at New Hope, East Bank Demerara. The man, Narotam Isree Holodar of 540 Cinema Street, Diamond, along with another person reportedly performed the duties of security guards at the construction site.
The dead man’s daughter, 25-year-old Rowena Holodar told this newspaper that she received a call yesterday morning by the wife of one of her father’s co-workers. The woman said she was informed by the caller to visit the Diamond Hospital as her father was badly beaten. Holodar said that after hearing this news, she immediately visited the hospital. What she saw on arrival at the hospital was surprising to her. The distraught young lady related that her father was lying on the floor of the hospital with his hands bound, two slashes to the face and what appeared to be tar in his mouth. Rowena said her father was already dead when she arrived at the hospital.
She said she was informed by two persons who took her father to the hospital that when he arrived at the facility, he was still alive. She was told that her father had difficulty breathing and he suddenly made one last gasp for breath, before passing away. The woman said the persons were under the impression that he was unconscious at the time.
An emotional Rowena also told the Chronicle that despite the brutal beating her father suffered before he died, his co-worker (the other security guard) only had a scrape, and the family is now becoming suspicious about the entire ordeal.
She claimed that when they visited the scene of the incident, one of her father’s co-workers had on her father’s jersey and she had to promptly order him to take it off.
The deceased is said to have worked with the construction company for some three to four years prior to his death yesterday.
Asked about the type of person her father was, Rowena said he was a family man who cared about everyone. She said although he was not married to her mother, they shared a loving and affectionate relationship that saw the union of three children including her.
Holodar’s family yesterday afternoon expressed outrage that, hours after the incident, the man’s employers was yet to make a phone call to the family or pay them any visit.
The family is calling for some form of compensation as the 54-year-old man died on the job. Up to press time last evening, police were still questioning one of the man’s co-workers and investigations into the matter are continuing.