A postmortem examination conducted on the remains of 29-year-old Shannen Obermullah-Mohamed has revealed that the woman died from blunt trauma to the head.
“Government Pathologist Doctor Nehaul Singh, at about 11:00hrs today, performed a post-mortem examination on the remains, suspected to be that of Shannen Mohamed, and gave the cause of death as ‘Severe Blunt Trauma to Head’,” the Guyana Police Force (GPF) disclosed in a statement.
Dr Singh also opined that the victim was already dead before her body was set on fire.
Body samples have since been taken for DNA testing.
Meanwhile, Commander Khali Pareshram has indicated that the suspect was arrested and is presently in police custody assisting with the investigation.
Burnt remains of a woman were last evening discovered at a house under construction at Parika, East Bank Essequibo (EBE).
The remains are suspected to be those of Obermullah-Mohamed, who was the homeowner.
Police received an anonymous tip about a burnt body in Parika at around 22:10h and upon arrival at the scene, they discovered a burnt skull and torso among debris near the unfinished concrete structure.
They also found a sledgehammer and crowbar nearby, leading to the suspicion that those weapons were used to attack the victim.
A neighbour reported seeing a man named ‘Rodwell’ burning materials in the yard at around 10:00h earlier that day. Rodwell, a mentally unstable man, was reportedly hired to construct the house.
Further investigation revealed that the victim had visited the location earlier that day but attempts by her family to contact her during the course of the day proved futile.
That night, a family member visited the location and found a fire at the back of the yard.
Rodwell was seen walking away from the building. The family member extinguished the fire with water, discovering what appeared to be a human skull. They called the police.
It was noted that though Rodwell has mental health issues, he is well known to the family and would do quality construction work at reasonable prices.
