By Nafeeza Yahya-Sukar
A RELIGIOUS leader who confronted several men who were imbibing and using indecent language in front of his premises was brutally beaten to death on Saturday evening.
Dead is Rishi Barrat called “Haribol”, 60, a father of four and a priest and joiner by profession.

According to his distraught wife, Jasmin Bharrat, 36, her husband only wanted a peaceful night’s rest to work the next day and to stop the expletives that were being used in front of his property.

She explained that at around 18:00 hrs, a group of boys were imbibing on the bridge and it continued around 21:00 hrs when her husband, from the window asked the men to desist, saying that the area was not a rum shop and he was trying to sleep.

She noted that soon after they began verbally abusing him, and she called the police, who told her they will send a patrol.
“After they continue I went to make up the bed and he went outside to talk to them, and, after a few minutes, I heard a big commotion and screaming and yelling of beat him! Kill him! Hit him on the head! I feel like something gone wrong and I run down. When I reach down I see them start move away.”
The woman, in tears, said she saw her husband lying in a pool of blood with injuries to the head.
“He was calling out for help! Help! Somebody please help me! Bring water and eventually some neighbours came out. A few minutes after a family friend came and assisted and took him to the hospital.”

She added that her 12-year-old son, who went with him downstairs, witnessed the ordeal and is in a traumatic state. She noted that while his father was being attacked, he used his hands to cushion the blows and was hurt in the process.

Mrs. Barrat is pleading for justice since for years they have been faced with torment in the area.
She said several complaints were made to the police but they fell on deaf ears. She told this newspaper that, given that they have three daughters and nothing was being done about the constant verbal abuse, her husband finally decided that they will move. The family has been living in the area for the past 16 years.

“They cause trouble, every, every week; we suffer from this. They are all regular here and we always get this issue and nothing was being done.  We made complaints to the police several times,” the now widow said, adding that: “Those who cruelly killed my husband need to be jailed for a lifetime because for the rest of my life we won’t forget this. He only wanted a peaceful environment because we have three daughters and he didn’t like things like lawlessness and extreme noise and cursing in front of our house, and when we complain to the boys, even nicely we talk to them, they will eventually curse my daughters and that’s very irritating and they would threaten to kills us, burn out place down. They would pelt us with stones, break our windows and even thief from the temple. I never thought it would end like this because he was making plans to move, but before he could move this happened; he never get to move, never had a peaceful life.”

The police, in a press release, stated that 11 persons have been arrested thus far as investigation continues.
According to the police, eight men were in front of the premises of the deceased imbibing and using foul language. The decease then went out to the men with a piece of wood and told them to remove from the area. The men became annoyed and armed themselves and lashed the pandit several times about his body, which cause him to fall to the street. He was picked up by his relatives in an unconscious state and rushed to the Skeldon Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Subsequently, three other persons were arrested bringing the total to 11.
The Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha, on Sunday, expressed heartfelt condolences to the family of Pandit Bharrat as they condemned the “savage and heinous beating” of the pandit which led to his “horrific death” and asked that the perpetrators of the brutal act face the full force of the law.