By Kristen Macklingam
The relatives of the children who perished in the recent tragic boat accident on the Aruka River, Region One, are fearful that justice will be denied after alleging that a police rank handling the case bluntly stated that “the story has quieted down” and warned them to “desist from saying anything more” about the accident.
Agnes Da Silva, the paternal grandmother of the two children who died last week when the boat they were travelling in was slammed into by another vessel, told INews that her son visited the police station last week for an update on the case.
“My son, the children’s father, went yesterday and the detective (name supplied) tell him not to say anything more about our story, that it done quiet down, and how we have nothing more to get out of it…my daughter-in-law is still hospitalised from this accident and although my husband and the other boy were not seriously injured, two of my grandchildren are now dead. So we really want justice for what has happened,” she stated.
It was pointed out that nine-year-old Loyzal DaSilva, seven-year-old Daveannand James and an older sibling, of Central Kumaka had been in the boat when the collision took place but the younger two did not manage to swim to safety.
INews understands that the mother of the now dead children is nursing several injuries inclusive of broken ribs, a fractured shoulder blade and a punctured left lung.
According to the grieving woman, when the unfortunate accident took place, her son was not aware of the state of his family who were on-board the boat he was operating.
“It was dark he said and couldn’t see anything but a light shine on him and when he turn as soon as it shine to see it was already too late because he said the boat was already on top of him and his boat. He was knocked unconscious. Although the teenage grandson swam to safety when the boat upturn, the other two grandkids couldn’t and their mother was injured too,” she explained.
Meanwhile, Commander of “E&F” Division, Ravindradat Budhram told this online publication that if an officer indeed stated those words to the family then he has no right or authority to do so.
He vowed to investigate such claims.
According to Commander Budhram, he has made it his personal duty to send for the case file to peruse and will be following every step of the investigation.
“The Post Mortem (PM) was done on the children so I have to get those results now and we have already taken statements from persons as well as photos of the accident site and the boats involved. We do not have any eye-witnesses so that means we have to thoroughly investigate each statement and we are still questioning several persons as it relates to this accident so rest assured the matter will not be swept under a rug,” he posited.
