A 52-year-old man who was found suspended on a mango tree, hours before he was scheduled to make a court appearance, on child support charges, was pronounced dead at the New Amsterdam Hospital on Thursday.

Baburam Hardeo, called “Gopaul” of Longsdale Village, was last seen alive on Wednesday night after returning from  the ‘wak’ of Ashley Agard, the 12-year-old girl who was found unresponsive in an East  Bank Berbice village.

Brother-in-law of the deceased, Omar Dasrat of Brother’s Village, recalled seeing the unemployed man seated in a hammock under the home of his stepmother.

Dasrat, who occupied one of the two houses in the fenced yard along the public road, had also gone to the wake and, on his return home he did not pay any attention to his relative, except to say he was going to “watch TV”.

On waking up about 06:30hrs, he opened his back door with the aim of brushing his teeth when he was shocked at what he saw.

“Lo and behold, me see he tie up in the tree with he shirt,” Dasrat related.

Malini Hardeo, 33, the daughter of the deceased, said she last spoke with her father on Wednesday, and during their conversation, he reported that the mother of his two children, ages six and six months old, had summoned him for maintenance.

He was scheduled to attend court on Thursday.

According to Hardeo, her father always received threats that he would be summoned but it never happened until Thursday. Cops from Sisters Police Station who were at the scene, removed the body and transported it to the New Amsterdam Hospital, where the death was confirmed. A post-mortem examination is scheduled for next week. Police are investigating the incident.