West Berbice miner beaten to death
A 24-year-old West Berbice man who left for the interior over two years ago in search of a better life for his mother was not able to fulfill his dream after he was beaten to death on Saturday night.
Reports are that Delon Sancho, a pork-knocker, was beaten to death by three persons and his body was flown to the city the same night. The man’s distraught mother, Claire Collins, 42, of Plantation Ross said when she received the news about his death around 6 am on Sunday morning she fainted.
The woman said a relative called to give her the news and her sister who answered the phone did not know how to tell her. “After she got the call I keep asking she what happened to Delon and when she tell me he dead I get blackout [fainted].”
She said she travelled to Georgetown on Monday to identify the body and she noticed that he had bruises on his two hands, his face was swollen and his eyes and ears had blood stains. When she returned yesterday to witness the post-mortem she observed a big gash behind his head as though he was hit with a heavy object.
He was clad in a pair of brown shorts and his body was covered in clay, suggesting that he was working “in the pit” at the time of his demise. She described Delon as always mannerly and said he did not deserve such a death.
Collins said her son sent money often to support her and his three siblings and that he was the sole breadwinner of the family. She recalled sadly that the last time she saw her son was in October 2006 when he returned for her mother’s funeral.
She yearned to see him and occasionally when he called he kept promising to visit her but this was not to be. Before leaving for the interior, Delon worked as a labourer with rice farmers until a friend took him away to work in Georgetown.
Shortly after, the friend offered him an opportunity to work in the interior and he gladly accepted.
The woman who was involved in “buying and selling” said she is unable to continue that business and now she does not know how she would survive.
She is also worried about how she would be able to care for her 20-year-old son who was diagnosed with a heart condition, her 17-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son. (Shabna Ullah)
