….he wanted only the best for his mother
A post mortem is expected to be performed on the body of ten-year-old Christopher Bernard, also called ‘Owen’, whose body was found hanging in his mother’s home at 65 Better Hope South, East Coast Demerara, on Sunday afternoon.
The child’s mother, Vanessa Bernard, who operates a hair-dressing salon at Plaisance, was reportedly not at home when the incident occurred, but a female teenage cousin who was in the home claimed she was asleep and later woke up and discovered the child’s body hanging from the roof with a tie around his neck. No one saw him hang himself, but it is alleged he took his own life. There is speculation he might have committed suicide through grief over the arrest by police of his 14-year-old brother (his only sibling) a few days ago.
Described by those who knew him as ‘witty, energetic, a live wire, a loving and caring child who had the best interest of his mother and brother at heart’, the news of Owen’s death sent shock waves around the quiet neighbourhood and his school.
His teacher, who commented on an essay he wrote in school a few days ago, related that his deep love and passion for the small family unit was strongly brought out in the work, and he wished that his mother would eventually own a home of her own and a car. He wished for them a comfortable life, bereft of hardships and filled with happiness.
For this reason, some close to the family yesterday commented, “It is difficult to imagine that he would take his own life, thereby creating pain and additional hardships for his mom, he loved so much.”
A reliable source informed this newspaper that late Sunday evening police returned to the scene of the crime and invited persons from the household to the Beterverwagting Police Station to assist them with their investigations.
Meanwhile, in another suicide-related incident, a post mortem was yesterday performed on the bodies of Avinash Persaud 18, of Greenwich Park, East Bank Essequibo, and Kaymattie Hussein 17, of Cornelia Ida, whose bodies were found hanging from the roof of an abandoned house at Uitvlugt Pasture, West Coast Demerara last Friday.
Pathologist, Dr. Nehaul Singh gave the cause of death as ‘asphyxiation due to hanging’.
Police said investigations revealed that Persaud and Hussein shared a relationship but were believed to be having parental disagreements. They were last seen at their respective homes on Sunday and Monday of last week.
Members of civil society have expressed concern over the recent alleged acts of suicide by teenagers, and are even more baffled that a ten-year-old would even contemplate such an act, given the relationship Bernard shared with his mother and only sibling.
Also, about six months ago, on June 21, the body of another teenager, David Harris, 14, of 155 Stewartville, West Coast Demerara, was found hanging from the roof of a shed at the back of his parents’ yard.
The sixth of seven children of David and Desiree Harris, he was a student of the Stewartville Secondary School.
Relatives said that around 09:00hrs, his sister Ketura, 16, went downstairs to empty the garbage and found David’s lifeless body hanging from the roof of the shed.
A post mortem performed on his body a few days later revealed that he died of strangulation.
Members of the civil society, concerned over the unfortunate loss of lives of these victims ‘in the springtime of their youth’, are calling for thorough investigations to be mounted into their deaths.
“The life of every child snuffed out under such tragic circumstances is one too many,” concerned mothers contend, adding “and we are wondering for whom will the bell toll next.”