Man dies after drunken brawl over magazine

A 58-year-old man died on Saturday night after he was allegedly hit in the head with a piece of wood by his drinking buddy with whom he had an argument over a pornographic magazine.

Dead is Naipaul Narsingh called ‘Katapin’ of Bloomingfield, Corentyne. The alleged killer is now in police custody.

Stabroek News understands that Narsingh, a father of two, was found in a pool of blood at a farm house for which he was the caretaker and he died several hours after even though he was taken to two hospitals.

According to Robindra Persaud, with whom the man worked, he received the news of the man’s injury at around 10:30 pm and he took the man to both the Port Mourant and New Amsterdam Hospitals but he was not admitted at any of the institutions and was discovered dead at around 4:30 yesterday morning. According to Persaud another farmer known as Chandat called ‘Bullet’ was going down into the back dam to look at his cattle early Saturday evening and he had to pass the farm house where Narsingh stays. This newspaper understands that normally when Chandat passes the home he would call out to Narsingh and Saturday night it was no different. When he did not receive the usual answer he decided to throw a brick onto the roof of the house but still got no response. Chandat became concerned and decided to enter the house and upon doing so he saw Narsingh lying on the floor in what appeared to be an unconscious state.

Chandat immediately retraced his steps and visited Persaud at home and informed him of what he saw and the two then decided to return to the house. This time they went with some light, since the house Narsingh was in had no electricity. With the aid of the light they were able to see that not only was Narsingh on the ground but he was also bleeding from a wound below his right ear. A bloody piece of wood was also next to the man’s body. Persaud said that Narsingh was down on the ground but he was conscious and they attempted to question him but because he was under the influence of alcohol at the time his answers were incoherent. He said they dressed the man, since he was clad only in briefs at the time, and took him to the Port Mourant Hospital. At that institution a nurse dressed the wound and informed them that the resident doctor was away at a conference so there was no doctor to see the man.

Persaud said they then decided to take the man to the New Amsterdam Hospital but on their way they stopped at the Albion Police Station and made a report. The police officers inspected Narsingh before sending them on their way to the hospital. At the New Amsterdam hospital a nurse looked at Narsingh and again dressed his wound and told them to wait on the doctor. When the doctor arrived he examined Narsingh and stated that he could not give the man any injection or saline because he was intoxicated. Persaud said they were given a piece of paper and told to take the man back to the hospital today. According to Persaud they then returned to his residence where police officers were waiting and they attempted to question Narsingh who was still somewhat incoherent with his answers. They then told Persaud to keep the man until this morning when he could give a more detailed statement about what happened to him.

According to Persaud, Narsingh refused to go upstairs into his house and instead requested a pillow and a sheet and indicated that he would remain at the back of the canter truck, which was used to transport him to the hospitals, until sunlight. That was around 3:30 and Persaud said he went upstairs and dozed off for about an hour and at around 4:30 am he woke up and called out to Narsingh but got no answer. Upon checking on the man he discovered that he had died.

Later yesterday morning the police arrested a man in the area who attempted to flee when he saw the police officers, and he reportedly confessed to beating Narsingh in the head after the argument over the magazine. He remains in custody as the police continue their investigations.