Fifty-year-old Lachman ‘Indar’ Balkarran left his Quakers Hall, Mahaicony home on August 23 to attend a wedding at De Hoop, Mahaica but suffered severe blows to his head which resulted in his death a few days later.
Latchman ‘Indar’ Balkarran
Results from a post-mortem examination revealed that the man died from haemorrhage and a fractured skull and listed the death as homicide.
His relatives are hoping that his killer(s) would be brought to justice.
A few days ago a relative received a call from an anonymous caller who provided the name and address of a man who was reportedly involved in a fight with Balkarran. The man has since been arrested and is being questioned by police. A few other persons who were initially arrested have been released.
His widow, Sherry Surujpaul, recalled that around 8 pm on August 23, a “friend” who had taken him to the wedding with his bus at 10 am came and asked if he had returned home. After she said no the man went back to the wedding house and brought him.
Although he was not talking and could not walk on his own she did not realize he was injured. The friend had told her that her husband had drunk excessively and was “too drunk to catch himself.”
Sherry Surujpaul, centre with 11-month-old Dinesh, flanked by her daughters from right: Seeta, 17, Navita, 11, Champa, 14, Cindy, 12, and three-year-old Ajay.
Balkarran was only taken to the Mahaicony Hospital the following evening after his wife was faced with the harsh reality that her husband could not be “drunk” for so long. She said he still could not talk and was falling whenever he tried to walk on his own.
At the hospital, x-rays proved that his skull was fractured and that his brain was inflamed. He was immediately transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital in an ambulance and was admitted to the intensive care unit after receiving emergency treatment. The following day a CT-scan was done and the doctor informed his wife that he was bleeding internally in the head. He also told her that it was not possible for surgery to be performed. The woman was nevertheless clinging to hope that her husband would make it and when he started to respond three days later she was overjoyed. “He didn’t eat since this happen and the Thursday the nurses tell me dem give him milk to drink. When me go later to visit he, he squeeze me hand and me feel so happy.”
The following day, Friday, he had the soup and porridge she took for him but when she returned in the afternoon he had tubes hooked up to his mouth. She became worried but the nurses assured her that he would be ok.
The next morning as Sherry was on her way to the hospital she started receiving calls on her cellular phone from relatives who wanted to know about her location.
She said although they did not tell her that her husband had died she had a feeling something was wrong. When she got to the hospital she met everyone crying and her worst fears were confirmed.
She recounted that her husband was left lying in the hammock under the house the entire night after the men lifted him in. She kept checking on him often to see if he could manage to walk up the stairs but he could not move.
At 6 am the following day she was shocked that he was not in the hammock and found him lying in front of the bathroom door in the yard.
She shook him and asked him if he was not “sober” yet and he tried to tell her something and was moving his hands to his head but she could not understand what he was saying.
Balkarran was laid to rest on Wednesday last, leaving her with their six children: Seeta, 17; Champa, 14; Cindy, 12; Navita, 11; three-year-old Ajay and 11-month-old Dinesh. He also left to mourn two older children from a previous union. The woman is worried about how she would be able to take care of her children now, especially the two youngest.
Her husband had started a small kitchen garden and she plans to continue it to provide for the family and to sell a little from it.
Only Cindy and Navita are attending school while Seeta and Champa were forced to leave school early. According to her, “Seeta is my helping hand. She was sick and that’s why she had to leave school and didn’t get to write exams.”
Just before her father was hospitalized, he took her to the computer school to make arrangements for her to start a course and was supposed to return to pay for it. Sadly, her mother cannot afford to send her now.
Another case of starting to look better and then the grim reaper arrives to take him home. Conspiracy anyone …….
NO DOUBT THE USUAL “I WAS DRUNK AND DIDN’T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING” EXCUSE I AM SURE. THIS IS JUST SO DAMNED SENSELESS; OVER AND OVER THE SAME THING. IT HAS BECOME ALL TOO COMMON PLACE IN GUYANA WHICH IN AND OF ITSELF IS SUCH A SHAME. MAY I ASK HOW IS THIS WOMAN SUPPOSED TO SUPPORT HERSELF AND HER FAMILY? TO THE WELFARE SYSTEM: WOULD THIS A GOOD TIME TO ASK WHERE ARE OUR TAX DOLLARS GOING?
Come-on, bus driver know something. If he is in the level, some one must have told him something when he went to pick the man up.
SN is there a possibility for us to have a personal account where we can bank a SMALL PIECE for these people in need especially for the children’s sake?
FELLOW BLOGGERS I CALL UPON YOU ALL TO GET TOGETHER AND HELP EVEN WITH CLOTHING….From over here a box takes A YEAR AND A DAY to reach Guyana and many do not arrive and if they do they are destroyed and plundered. SO BLOGGERS LETS DONATE WHATEVER WE CAN TO EVERY NEEDY FAMILY.
BLOGGERS IN HOLLAND CAN WE DO OUR PART TOGETHER? sINGH i WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU AND OTHERS EVEN IF IT IS FIVE EUROS OR EVE ONE IT WOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE…LETS MAKE A DIFFERENCE GUYS; OUR COÖRPERATION IS NEEDED
Moderator’s note: We shall provide contact information for the family.
Perhaps the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints in Guyana can provide some humanitarian work to this family as they claim to be doing in Guyana.
And let us not forget the 7 children and wife of the Agricola man who was killed by a taxi due to no fault of his own.
I haven’t heard of any humanitarian good coming from these people yet. They claim to be in Guyana for this purpose. These are vulnerable people. Where are they?
I would like to provide some assistance to the family in the above article. How do I proceed with this action.
Quakers Hall man dies after wedding house brawl
Moderator’s note: Will provide you with contact info for family shortly.
My condolences to the family of the deceased. It is customary to have liquor at hindu weddings and nasty behaviour along with fights that often lead to death. I have witneesed a wedding in New York where liquor was being consumed close to where the ceremony was being done. Two tubs of bottled beer and one case of hard liquor stood just 10 feet away from the ceremony. For this reason I do bot go to Hindu weddings. In general the majority of hindus know nothing about their religion, they call a pandit to pray for them, pandits here in the USA are no better, they too consume liquor just like those in Guyana. A shameful situation that has been around a long time and speaks volumes of the practices .
If the grim details in this story are all true, then gross negligence, plain stupidity and incompetence on the part of his wife and the so-called medical professionals at the hospital caused this man’s death. If he lived for so many days after such traumatic injuries he should have been alive and recovering today.
Joe,
Are you seriously blaming the wife? You are either crazy or naive to think Guyana has the expertise and the capacity to treat severe brain trauma. The news report indicated the man had a fractured skull which resulted in severe hemorrhaging.
Don’t confuse healthcare of the US with that of Guyana. You do not run to the ER in Guyana every time you get an itch like you do in the US. The medical facilities in Guyana are woefully inadequate. Those in Guyana who can afford it seek medical treatment elsewhere. Just ask all the govt Ministers.
Of course the Mormons do humanitarian work in Guyana. But it is not their responsiblility to provide for the citizens of Guyana in time of hardship and tragdy. It is the Government who collects the taxes and harvest the riches and resources of the country to provide for its people. It seems like, for some of you the Government of Guyana is only there to break their own laws, suffer its people and to take the spoils for themselves, while foreigners and overseas guyanaese, who have escaped the oppression and dead end situation are now responsible to carry those left behind. Its like have a millstone around our necks having to provide for ourselves in a foreign land and for those who are starving and destitute, with no way out of their misery. Helping people is ok, but no one wants to ask the difficult questions, of those who are suppose to be ruling the country. Is justice and accountability no longer apply to these people in government. Is education not the basic right of every child regardless of status of social circumstances. Truly disgraceful!
Extracted: “…it is not their responsiblility to provide for the citizens of Guyana in time of hardship and tragdy.”
What exactly is the ‘responsibility’ of the Mormons in Guyana? Indoctrination?
NotfromGT chill you are out of line, attacking the mormons and LDS is despicable. Shame on you if you are going to attack religious persons do it for all religions none of them were borne out of Guyana all were imported. So smarten up and take your ignorance elsewhere.
I would like to provide some assistance to the family in this story.
I can be contact desram@sympatico.ca.
Thank You