Police can’t issue wanted bulletin for suspect in T&T girl’s murder

The suspect, who fled here after the murder of 18-year-old Nikita Ramischand in Trinidad, has not yet been located by family members nor by the police, who can do very little since the crime did not occur in Guyana, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud has said.

Persaud told Stabroek News yesterday that Guyana is not playing a major role in the murder investigation but has provided the Trinidadian authorities with specific information that they had requested. When quizzed about the issuing of wanted bulletins, the Crime Chief explained that the local police cannot do that, since the crime occurred in Trinidad.

Nikita Ramischand

“The police in Guyana can’t issue a wanted bulletin for a crime that happened in Trinidad. We provided specific details that they asked for,” he reiterated.

Ramischand, the daughter of prominent Guyana-born attorney Odai Ramischand, was killed on April 25, with the main suspect being a 25-year-old Guyanese construction worker, Ramesh ‘Alvin’ Sookram. The man fled to Guyana after the murder along with his 17-year-old cousin who is also said to be a suspect.

Dhanwantie Sookram, the mother of the main suspect, told this newspaper that she has not had any contact with her son but admitted that relatives are concerned about the 17-year-old whose parents have not heard from him.
“His mother crying every day… they want their child to come home,” she said. However, Dhanwantie said she has no concern for her son, who she noted has only caused her distress and torment. “This boy only give me a bundle of headache. I don’t have time for him… he got to take responsibility for his action. I have other children to live for,” she said.

The suspect’s mother further stated that calls she had constantly received a few weeks ago from a man who had identified himself as a relative of the deceased have ceased, much to her relief. “Is a long time now them ain’t call me. I hope everything go on just so. I must overcome sometime… can’t continue taking this on so,” she said.

Nikita is believed to have been ambushed while walking to her mother’s salon which is situated in the compound of their LP 46 Maracas Royal Road, Maracas, St. Joseph, Trinidad home. She was reportedly dragged behind the premises and stabbed to her abdomen. Her bloodied body was discovered behind the salon. An autopsy revealed that the teenager bled to death after her throat was slit. She also suffered six stab wounds to the abdomen.

After the girl’s murder, Sookram and his cousin returned to Guyana and travelled to their respective Soesdyke, East Coast Demerara homes, where no word of the girl’s death was mentioned. The following day after his return, Sookram left his home and failed to return while the cousin waited until reports surfaced of a second suspect and then disappeared as well.