By Oluatoyin Alleyne
Police up to last evening had a young woman in custody as they continue their investigations into the brutal murder and rape of 15-year-old Sheliza Khan whose battered and nude body was found on the Hope Estate Road early Sunday morning.
The woman in custody is the neighbour who was with Khan also known as ‘Shelly’ when she left her home reportedly to purchase Chinese food at Mahaica. Police yesterday said they are convinced the girl is not telling the truth and so they are continuing to question her even as they attempt to verify whether Khan might have left the Mahaica area in a white car or minibus on the fateful night. A senior police officer said that they were hoping for a break in the case sometime last evening.
Stabroek News had spoken to the neighbour on Sunday evening and she had said that she and Khan went to the restaurant where which she had left the girl in order to answer her phone. She had said that because of the noise in the restaurant she was forced to stoop behind a wall to speak on the phone. However, what the young woman did not state was that she and the teenager had visited a popular nightspot in the area and were drinking beer.
Sheliza’s mother yesterday told Stabroek News that a police officer told her that on Sunday night he had seen the two in front of the nightspot drinking a beer each and he “chased them home.” “I can’t say what happen after me daughter lef and go out, she say how she going to buy deh food and I ent know wah happen after,” the woman said.
“And den she bin tell people how two boy working in deh bush bin a promise she some raw gold so me ent know if a deh gold she went to collect but she tell me she going an buy food. But if is deh gold she went fo collect is deh gold (her death) she get right deh,” the grieving woman said. She admitted her daughter loved the road but added that she did not deserve to die in such a horrible manner.
When this newspaper visited the area where the girl was reportedly last seen the brutal killing was being discussed on the road. One man recalled that the young woman was sitting on the rail of the bridge in front of the night spot speaking to some young men but could not say in whose company she left. Another reported that he was talking to the friend and a couple of minutes after she related that her friend was missing and start a frantic search for her. After sometime the friend called a taxi and left the area alone.
This newspaper spoke to a man connected with the nightspot and he confirmed that the two visited the premises on Saturday. The nightspot is almost opposite the restaurant the girls had left home to visit. The man related that the two had purchased a beer each and left the building. He said they may have limed in front of the nightspot but pointed out that many other persons were also liming on the roadway at the time.
A woman told Stabroek News that the young woman was close to a female connected to the nightspot and she visited regularly. Sheliza’s mother told Stabroek News that she worked at the nightspot for about a week because she wanted a cellular phone. The woman said she had purchased a phone for the girl and she lost it and when she requested another one she told her that she could not afford it and the girl decided to seek employment. But after a week the woman said she told her daughter to stop working at the location as she did not like the environment.
Meanwhile, the woman said she told the police of a man who had threatened to harm her daughter if she did not start a relationship with him. The married man had told the young girl that he would have left his wife and children for her. She said her daughter had reported the incident to the Mahaica police station but nothing was done. Yesterday she said the police have since indicated that they would question the man.
Investigations are continuing.
