By Ramona Luthi
A 15-year-old Non Pariel, East Coast Demerara resident on Sunday evening took his own life, allegedly over the death of his 12-year-old girlfriend who was crushed on Friday last in the La Bonne Intention (LBI), East Coast Demerara home after it collapsed with her inside.
Dead is Ricardo Niranjan of Block 12, Non Pariel, East Coast Demerara.
Based on reports received, Niranjan would usually reside with his mother and two sisters at their home. However, on Wednesday last, the trio left for Suriname to visit an ailing relative, leaving the teen home alone.
This publication was informed by Niranjan’s relative that the lad and the now deceased 12-year-old were “boyfriend and girlfriend.”
INews was also told that upon learning of his girlfriend’s death on Friday, the teen seemed heartbroken and reserved.
On Monday, neighbours realised that they had not seen Niranjan since Sunday evening and so they decided to call on him at his home. However, upon checking they were met with the sight of Niranjan hanging from the ceiling.
The police were contacted, and the teen’s body was “cut down.”
Niranjan’s mother and sisters are expected to return from Suriname later today.
Inews had previously reported that on August 18, 2017, tragedy befell the community of LBI after a single-storey wooden building came crashing down, resulting in 12-year-old Amber Richards of Canal Number One, West Bank Demerara being crushed to death, while her 9-year-old brother was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital, nursing severe injuries.
The two were at the time vacationing at their aunt’s home while on break from school.
According to reports, the siblings were rocking in a hammock tied under the wooden building when the house came crashing down. The hammock was said to be attached to the main supporting beams on which the building was resting, approximately seven feet off the ground.
The children’s uncle, who was home at the time that the house collapsed, said that the children “went downstairs (below the house) in the hammock and like they were shaking and the house pull and drop.”
He said, he along with his wife and two children were in the building, while the two siblings were under the house.
A rescue team arrived at the residence approximately 30 minutes after receiving the report and only managed to remove the children from under the rubble after much effort. The 12-year-old had already taken her last breath before she was found while her brother remained conscious despite his injuries.
Meanwhile, a relative of the now dead child indicated that Richards was faced with severe medical complications as a child and required much investment to keep her alive. As such, they were all is dismay over her sudden demise.
The house was said to be standing for some 30 years and was set to undergo renovations.
