A FAMILY was plunged into deep mourning on Monday evening after four of its members were fished out of the Atlantic Ocean, off Vergenoegen, hours after trekking to the foreshore to perform a one-year ritual for another family member who died last year.The dead have been identified as 53-year-old Radika Persaud of Lot 13 Vergenoegen, East Bank Essequibo, her son 14-year-old Ravin Persaud, her nephew Billy Narine, age 12, and her niece Annatina Persaud, age nine. Narine and Persaud who are siblings lived at Lot 2402 Onderneeming, Parfait Harmonie.

Yesterday, Dularie Bhigman, Radika’s sister-in-law and aunt of the three dead children, said when she showed up at Radika’s home on the day of the incident, the woman was preparing to leave to perform the ritual.

Bhigman said that Radika asked her not to go anywhere, since she would be returning shortly, and she along with her niece and nephew and son left for ‘the riverside’, which is located a short distance away from their home.

Bhigman said that after it began to grow dark, she sent her daughter to look for the four, since it was unusual for them to be down at ‘the riverside’ so late.
The woman explained that when her daughter returned, she said that she did not see any of the four; only their clothing which was on the seashore.
Bhigman said she immediately decided to go in search of the four herself, and, aided by another villager, she started a search at the home of other relatives in the area, but nothing proved that they had visited those homes. Persons in the area did tell media operatives that they saw the four heading to ‘the riverside’ on Monday afternoon.
She explained that after coming up blank in her search for the four, she ventured to ‘the riverside’, where she began calling out the names of the missing four but got no answer. It was a few seconds after, she said, that she saw two bubbles coming from the water, and then her nephew surfaced.
“We keep calling for them, and get no answer, and we want to know if anyone hit them or do them anything. And suddenly, I see the mother and grandmother coming saying that they found the bucket till back that side, going closer to Parika. And I said, ‘You know what happen there? Somebody drowned,’” Bhigman told the Chronicle.
The woman said that after raising an alarm, persons rushed to the location and began a frantic search for the other three persons, while the youngster was pulled from the ocean.
A resident of the community plunged into the water and dived beneath the surface where he was able to locate the other three family members.
This newspaper was also informed that the search for the missing persons commenced at approximately 18:30 hrs and the last body was pulled from the water at approximately 22:30 hrs, even as persons lamented the lengthy time they were forced to await the arrival of the hearse from the funeral parlour to take the remains away.
Relatives explained that the tragedy has really shaken up the family, since it has now taken the number of persons who perished from the family within one year to six.
The relative said that the family would usually make trips to the river for various rituals, and this is not the first time they went in more than twos.
Another relative, who took media operatives to the koker where all four bodies were trapped, indicated the spots where the family would usually go to perform their rituals.
Based on what she showed media operatives yesterday, the family would usually use a location where the water is not usually very high. From all indications, however, when the family went on Monday, the water was high. And that might have also accounted for their being forced in the area of the koker door from where the lifeless bodies were pulled.

(By Leroy Smith)