Fabric testing in Sheema murder still not finished

It is yet to be determined whether the pieces of fabric found under a car match the clothes Sheema Mangar was wearing when she was fatally dragged along Camp Street, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud says.

“This is something that can’t be done overnight,” Persaud told Stabroek News via telephone yesterday afternoon when questioned about what progress police were making with the “fabric matching”.

Results, Persaud advised, cannot be expected even within another two weeks. He reiterated that such processes take time. DNA testing may also have to be done.

The man who was found with the car and taken into custody shortly after Mangar’s death has since been released from police custody.

Commissioner of Police Henry Greene had told reporters that the fabric discovered under the man’s car “seems to resemble the uniform that the girl used and we have put it under chemicals to determine if it’s the same type of material”. The commissioner had added that no human remains were found under the car just the fabric.

Mangar, 20, was robbed of her mobile phone sometime after 6 pm on September 11 as she waited for transportation on North Road close to Camp Street. The young woman chased the perpetrator who jumped into a car and ran her down when she tried to stop him from fleeing. She was then dragged from the Bedford Methodist Church at Camp Street and North Road to the intersection of Camp and Church streets. She died hours later at the St Joseph Mercy Hospital from a ruptured spleen, one of the many injuries she sustained.