By Ravin Singh

THINGS took a turn for the worse on Friday after the body of University of Guyana (UG) student Harris Anthony Persaud, who went missing on Wednesday last, was found by relatives at Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara (EBD).

Relatives of the 19-year-old, who resided at Cane Grove, East Coast Demerara (ECD), had been navigating their way along the seawall in search of him since receiving reports of his disappearance.

The search was embarked upon after two friends of the deceased, “Sarwan” and “Dave,” who were last seen with him, revealed that they all went for a swim behind the Marriott Hotel and Persaud was swept away by a huge wave on Wednesday.

The young man was said to have left his lot 21 Granny Field, Cane Grove, ECD home around 07:30hrs on that day to attend classes at UG. He was scheduled to report for work at 13:00hrs on the very day, at H Nauth and Sons Construction company which is located at Unity, Mahaica. His father was expected to pick him up at 09:00 hrs that evening.

However, after classes that day, the teen reportedly contacted his supervisors to notify them that he would not be able to work since he had evening classes.
On Friday, the young man’s father, Nandkumar Persaud, revealed that a relative by the name of “Dog-man” had found his son’s body around 17:30hrs along the western side of the seashore at Garden of Eden, EBD.
The police were immediately contacted to assist in retrieving the body which was in a swollen state.

Police sources disclosed that the two friends said that Persaud accompanied them to swim behind the Marriott Hotel in Georgetown when they were struck by a wave.

The friends however revealed that they had no difficulties in swimming to safety but Persaud was not so lucky. The duo reportedly panicked and grabbed his belongings, including his clothing, and left the area. They allegedly disposed of the young man’s belongings along the Railway Embankment on the East Coast.

In an earlier report, the teen’s mother had reported that his cellphone was found at Buxton, his haversack at Enmore and his clothes at Cummings Lodge. He also had in his possession an Ipad which has not been found.

Despite the duo being held for questioning by the police, the young man’s father has said that he does not believe foul play led to his son’s death.

“I believe that it was a natural death… my son did drown, it isn’t a murder. The reason I said that is because these two youngsters were my son’s friends and was doing the same course at the university. A lot of questions will be asked about why they took the clothing, but I personally feel that they panicked and tried to avoid the problem,” the father of the deceased said.

However, he spared no bones in condemning them for not rendering assistance to his son and reporting it immediately, which he contends could have either saved his son’s life or assisted in locating the body sooner.

The 19-year-old who had a promising future was a second-year student of UG reading for a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering. His two friends are also doing the same programme at the university. They were childhood friends of Persaud.