In pursuit of justice…
– grieving mom seeks meeting today with Minister Manickchand
THE grieving family of 21-year-old Sheema Mangar is still plagued by questions relating to her brutal death and her mother, Radica Thakoor, said she will be meeting with Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Priya Manickchand today to continue her relentless pursuit of justice.
The last word from the police was that investigators are checking to see if pieces of fabric found beneath a car match the clothing the Demerara Bank employee was wearing when she was dragged along Camp Street.
However, when the Guyana Chronicle visited her home yesterday at Mon Repos, East Coast of Demerara, Mrs. Thakoor revealed that she visited the police on Thursday last and was told that the ‘sample’ has not yet been sent for testing, which is expected to be done out of  the country.
“They told us the results would take two weeks and it now past three weeks and nothing is happening,” the distraught woman said.
Attempts made to contact police officials for a comment on the issue proved futile.
Mrs. Thakoor also noted that, with the recent increase in criminal incidents,  the family is afraid the investigations into the 21-year-old’s death would be lost, but maintained that she would fight for justice for her daughter.
“I went back to where she died and I was surprised to know that in a place that is always full of people, no one heard Sheema screamed and no one heard anything…someone has to know something, but all I hearing from the police is that they are working on it,”  the distraught mother lamented.
Thakoor also vented her frustration at the pace at which the investigation is moving.
“Right now a car has been impounded…they (the police) find the cloth and they impound the car. But what happen to the driver?”
Mangar’s mother stressed that “bringing a child up is not an easy task” noting that “giving them what they need: an education, clothes, food and a home –  is not an easy thing”.
“It may be easy for people who are richer and who can have bodyguards for their children, but not for average people like us…a lot more has to be done for people like us. People who paying taxes have a right to be protected,” she said.
Mrs. Thakoor said what is puzzling is that her daughter “screamed for help”, yet  no one did anything.
“…people who were there at the time and are likely to have seen something are not coming forward or saying anything…and this is depriving Sheema of justice.”
“It is just like with Neesa (the 16-year-old who was brutally murdered). She called for help and no one listened. She reached out for help and no one helped…we have to stop failing the young people in this country,” Mrs. Thakoor appealed.
Mangar was making her way home and was at North Road waiting for a bus when her blackberry phone was snatched. The 21-year-old gave chase as the robber entered a waiting car.
Eyewitness reports are that she placed herself in front of the vehicle in an effort to stop the thief, but was run over and dragged several feet, from North Road to Church Street, under the car as it sped away.
Public spirited citizens rushed her to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and later she was transferred to the St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital where she died a few hours later.
Thakoor describes her daughter as a very pleasant and quiet person and added that the 21-year-old was her only daughter, the second of two children.