The body of a fisherman was removed from his tomb at Rosignol Cemetery, West Bank Berbice, Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) sometime between Monday evening and Tuesday morning, and beheaded.
The tomb raiders vandalised the tomb of Munishwar Jawahir almost six weeks after he was entombed.
The discovery of the corpse’s head was made by family members of a woman who was buried on Monday.
They had returned to their sister’s final resting place on Tuesday morning when they saw the man’s head on top of a tomb.
The gruesome discovery was reported to persons in the community, including the pastor who performed the last rites for the woman the previous day.
The pastor had also performed the rites for Jawahir on February 9 and as such, he contacted family members of the 52-year-old man, formerly of Rosignol.
His sister, Niraini Khadir told this publication that they were informed that the tomb was broken in. She said when she and other siblings arrived at the cemetery, they realised that the tomb was broken and the casket was outside.
“My brother head on the tomb, they cut off his head and his belly turn at the bottom and his back on top. When we go there, the casket was open. That is really bad, because we put my brother there to rest,” she said.
According to Khadir, it seems as if the perpetrators were looking for something specific since the casket was tumbled.
“I don’t know if the family put money in the casket, but when we checked, everything was gone. He had a wrist watch and a ring but the ring was left and the watch gone. The porter checked and he see that they tumble up the casket. We suggest that they put the body on the tomb and they saw off my brother’s head. That is a saw they used and they throw back the body in the casket and my brother head left on top the tomb.”
After being integrally involved in the burial of five family members, Khadir says this was the first time something of this nature has occurred. She said they were able to get the assistance of the funeral parlour to entomb the body again.
However, she does not feel the matter is being properly investigated.
“We went to the Station and the Police came and see what is it… We think that the Police should do something better than that.”
She said no efforts were made to obtain any fingerprints.
“I think they should do their job more better. Nothing they went and do. I don’t know if they video or what. They told us to go to the Station when we are finished closing up the tomb,” she added.
One of the siblings did the necessary masonry work.
