Following the death of seventeen-year-old Melissa Soman, detectives returned to  the scene at Gaetroy, Berbice River on Sunday, where the suspect pointed to the area where he allegedly slapped the teen prior to her falling overboard, resulting in her death.

On June 17,2020  at  around 20:30hrs, the suspect, Soman and a relative of the suspect were in a wooden paddle boat returning to De Veldt, Berbice River after attending a birthday party at Gaetroy Village upriver.

Along the journey, an argument ensued about the teen’s behaviour at the party. The suspect then slapped the teen and she fell overboard.

It was the suspect’s relative who assisted her out of the water. But another argument erupted thereafter, and again she was slapped by the suspect and as a result she fell overboard once more. The man’s relative made attempts to rescue the teen, but was unsuccessful. The suspect allegedly did not make any effort to rescue the teen and proceeded along home leaving her in the water.

The following day, while the police was on patrol in the riverain community,they  were informed of the incident. However, the suspect was not arrested until the following day.

Soman’s body was subsequently fished out of the river. It was observed that the upper torso, face and right hand appeared to have been disfigured and this was attributed to fish in the area.

The body was escorted to the New Amsterdam Hospital where she was pronounced dead by Dr. Ramdean.A post mortem examination is scheduled for tomorrow and charges at likely.