THE decomposed body of 74-year-old Henry Ramlakhan Gobin was found in a crouched position in the lower flat of his two-storey house at Brehaspat Street, Number Two Village, East Canje, Berbice on Friday.His nephew, Paul Gobin, related that he had last seen his father’s brother two weeks ago, when he had visited his uncle’s home and was told that the elderly man was going out and was consequently unable to entertain him.

The younger Gobin and other relatives responded on Friday afternoon to a telephone call which resulted in them visiting the home of the now deceased former headmaster. They forcefully entered the upper flat of the wooden house after calls went unanswered; and when a relative descended an inner stairway to the lower flat, Henry Gobin’s badly decomposed body was discovered on the floor in a slouched position.

“He probably fell off the bed. His skull was exposed, so were his teeth, while body fluids flowed from the body. The stench was high,” the relative said.

Neighbours acknowledged that they had not seen the retired school teacher for about two weeks. They acknowledged that they had since been receiving an obnoxious odour in the environment, but had presumed it was emanating from nearby pig pens.

When this newspaper visited the scene on Saturday morning, relatives were taking away the dead man’s personal belongings, which included his television set, pension books, clothing and curtains, among other articles; they having decided to divide the articles among themselves. The relatives, all males, described the now deceased as a “non-mixer”, “non- drinker”, and “non-smoker”, who was “always by himself”.

“He always minding his own business; nothing or nobody interested him. He lived alone and he died alone. He has no children. An older sister lived and died the same way,” one relative related.