MEDIA operatives see so much crime that sometimes they become blasé, impervious to the pain even while recognising the tragic circumstances at an academic level. But sometimes the sheer bestiality of some crimes rock them to the core, and they are relentless in their pursuit to see justice done.

Of recent times, two such cases grabbed hold of the attention of the staffers at the Guyana Chronicle, and while one seemingly would not conclude in justice for the victim, the outcome of the other has engendered supreme satisfaction, not merely among Chronicle staffers, but the entire nation, which has breathed a collective sigh of relief that justice has been served.
Sheema Mangar and Neesa Gopaul were two bright and beautiful young girls whose lives were snuffed out without a qualm by persons who coveted their properties. Sheema was brutally killed for her cell-phone, and Neesa met her demise for the property her father left her and her baby sister, and had her life destroyed long before, because of the lust of two evil people with souls as depraved as Satan’s.
The difference between these two tragedies is the difference in the character and actions of the mothers of these two girls. A mother is the first and last line of defence against the world for her child; but what does a child do when the enemy is the person God gifted her as her ‘Guardian Angel’: Her mother.
Motherhood is a sacred trust, and mothers are revered beings as a norm. In every culture under the sun! But Naree Gopaul proved to be one of the exceptions to the norm.
While Sheema’s mother, Radhika Thakoor is relentless in her pursuit of justice for her slain child; enduring scorn and vilification from officials who consider her a pest to be brushed off with anger like someone swatting away a pestilential mosquito, Neesa’s mother joined with a monster to slay her own child, impervious to the child’s years-long agony as she endured being forcibly made to become a drug addict; a sex slave who was beaten badly and raped as a regular feature; a prisoner in the home which her loving father built to create a haven for her; and finally had her life wrenched with the most severe bestiality from her, even while she pleaded with a monstrous mother not to kill her.
What was tragic was that the child knew that eventuality was coming; she was too bright not to know that, but she also knew that she was the bastion protecting her beloved baby sister from a similar fate; so she endured.
One senior Chronicle staffer knew that the duo was guilty; she conducted an investigation from one corner of the country to the other, and wrote endless stories on the issue. Along the way, she learnt of the manner in which the deadly duo murdered the helpless child.
Because of the legal implications, that story was written as a short story: Place names were changed. Berbice became Essequibo and vice versa. Leonora became New Amsterdam. Genders were changed so Neesa’s two sisters became boys, with her baby sister, Miriam, being converted to Joseph.
Naree fittingly became Lolita; but five years ago, this newspaper revealed to the world what the Star Witness revealed in Court recently during the trial of the deadly duo. In the Guyana Chronicle Online version’s search engine, one can punch in “Murder most foul” and that story would come up, eerily reflecting and authenticating what the Star Witness testified to in Court.
This witness is not known to the Chronicle staffer who got her information from another person at another facility. Today, Justice Navindra Singh is a hero. The fear that these evil persons would escape justice was palpable in the entire nation; but the judge delivered a fitting punishment. Let them experience for the rest of their miserable lives what an innocent child was forced to endure at their hands until the end of her life.
Sheema’s mother is still heartbreakingly seeking justice for her child, and the perplexing signs are indicating that the evidence was lost, so her quest seems a vain one. But even though her heart is breaking, she is not giving up.
In Neesa’s case today, those who loved her, and a nation that grieved for a bright and beautiful girl, full of promise, who never had that promise fructify, are satisfied that justice has been served, and the deadly duo are where they belong: Locked away in cages like the beasts that they are.