Pregnant 14-yr-old, man found hanging

A pregnant Berbice teen and a man who was suspected to have had unlawful sexual relations with her were Wednesday morning found hanging in a house. Relatives discovered Sherryanne Alli and 21-year-old Deoraj Persaud were discovered hanging from a house at Longsdale, East Bank Berbice.
Alli, called “Budgee” had celebrated her 14th birthday on December 31 last and lived in neighbouring Brothers Village with foster relatives.
Persaud, a labourer, had lived at the home of his recently departed grandfather and it was at this house that two were found hanging.
While the incident is believed to be a double-suicide, Alli’s relatives are claiming that it was a murder/suicide, as the teen had never showed any self-destructive tendencies.
Sabena Latiff, with whom the teen lived, recalled accompanying her to the New Amsterdam Hospital to undergo a pregnancy test after a visit to the Probation and Welfare Service.
Relatives said that an officer at the agency had met with the teen girl and the man and told them that they could not have a relationship as that would be “inappropriate” and it had to be discontinued.
Latiff said she was advised to keep the teenager in her care until Wednesday (yesterday), as the Probation Service would decide whether to send her to her biological mother at Skeldon, Corentyne, or find her alternative living arrangements.
On returning home from the visit to the Probation and Welfare Service, Latiff reportedly upbraided the teen about her behaviour, reminding her of her youthfulness. The teenager was advised not to get too excited, and to wait until she got much older before starting a serious relationship.
The young woman was also reminded of a court matter involving Persaud.
Latiff said that the former Vryman’s Erven Secondary School student promised to heed her warnings.
On Tuesday, Latiff recalled, the teenager, along with Latiff’s three children and father-in-law, shared a meal of chowmein and looked at a television show before retiring to bed.
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On waking up at about 05:00 hrs the next morning, Latiff observed that the teen’s bedroom door was closed, but she was nowhere to be found.

“I asked my son to call ‘Budgee.’ He returned, saying she was not in the house. I remembered that my father-in-law had put ‘Budgee’ to sleep in the bedroom while he had pulled his bed in the hallway, blocking her bedroom door in the process.
“I woke up and asked for the girl, but he was unable to say what had transpired. I then pushed the bedroom door. I observed that three louvre panes were removed and placed on the adjoining zinc shed. I believe she escaped through that window.”
Latiff said she and her husband immediately went to the Sisters Police Station and made a report.
Shafeek Ally, the uncle of Deraj Persaud, said he was at home, some distance away from the suicide scene, when the police visited about 30 minutes after Latiff had made her report, and questioned him about the whereabouts of his nephew.
As a result, he visited the home of his father who had recently passed away. At that house, his nephew lived. He knocked and called out for Persaud, but got no response.
“I heard music coming from the house, so I knew he was there. I called again, asking him to open the door. But, again, there was no response. I then walked on the zinc shed adjoining the house. I pushed open one of the wooden windows and walked into the bedroom, where I saw them hanging together. They were dead.”
It was then that Alli realised that the music was coming from his nephew’s cellular phone. He also observed that there was money under the phone. He wanted to remove the valuables, but opted not to do so, as it was a crime scene.
The Trinidad-based man recalled going to the Sisters Police Station and informing ranks of his discovery.
However, on his return to the house where the young people had hanged themselves, he discovered, to his amazement, that the phone and the money were missing.
“Imagine them come to see what happening and dem thief from the dead! People real wicked, eh?” he lamented in a Trinidadian accent.
Imtiaz Alli, father of the dead teenage girl, told this newspaper that he had cause to visit the Probation and Welfare Service on several occasions regarding the man’s overtures to his daughter.
Police are investigating the incident.

By Jeune Vankeric

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