Police bury remains of Fisherman without informing relatives; DNA results not back yet
A Rosignol, West Coast Berbice (WCB) family is calling on the relevant authorities to investigate the burial of 27-year-old Suraj Dhaneshwar, whose badly decomposed body was recovered at Mahaicony in April following an incident out at sea on a fishing vessel.
Dhameshwar was part of a two-member crew that left the three-door sluice at D' Edwards Village, WCB, to go fishing in April.
Sadly, according to reports, a wave caused the vessel to capsize. The captain survived while Dhaneshwar could not be located. A few days later, his badly decomposed body was recovered among some bushes at the Mahaicony seashore.
Following the discovery, DNA samples were taken from the remains as well as from Dhaneshwar's mother to be sent overseas for testing on April 12, 2022. The results have not been returned while the remains were being stored at a funeral home in Region Five.
However, in a twist of events, the family was told earlier today that officials from the funeral home were given instructions to have the body buried. This was reportedly done last week without family members being informed and without the DNA test results.
Sister of the deceased, Omawattie Dhaneshwar, told MTV News Update that her mother would usually call the funeral home to check up on the remains, but the staff there would inform the family that they could not disclose any information while, on some occasions, they would not answer the calls.
She divulged that relatives were able to identify the remains based on the features of the leg and fingers that were still visible on the body when it was discovered.
"Now when I call this morning they said the commissioner hand over the dead, the body to bury so I want to know why we don't know that they bury the dead, the mother, the sister nobody have no... They ain't tell me seh they hand over the dead so we would go and see or anything," Omawattie explained.
Meanwhile, Regional commander Kurleigh Simon confirmed that the results from the test have not been returned but explained that the body could not be identified given the state of decomposition.
In the same breath, he stated that the remains had to be buried in keeping with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
He said the body was buried in a marked shallow grave since the force does not have a positive identity for the deceased. The shallow grave also makes it easier for exhumation if the need arises.
