– relatives now plan burial today; in-laws pull out
The in-laws of Bridgette Gangadin yesterday withdrew themselves from all funeral preparations after two days of police interference but according to her relatives, she will be entombed at the Good Hope cemetery today regardless.
Yesterday marked the fourth occasion that the last rites for the woman were interrupted and the relatives on both sides have expressed frustration.
The parties are divided over how the body should be disposed. The in-laws want it to be cremated in keeping with their Hindu faith while her blood relations are prepared to bury the body in compliance with the police’s wishes. They said they have made that decision because they wanted closure.
It all began on Saturday last when Gangadin’s husband, Dwarka – who has since been charged with her murder – secured an injunction to halt the proceedings so that he could be included in them. The cremation which was about to begin at the Good Hope Crematorium had to be stopped.
Two days later, both families agreed before a judge that the cremation would be conducted on or before Wednesday.
This was stated in a court order along with the order of the funeral proceedings, including who would dress the body at the funeral parlour to the time of the cremation.
Bridgette Gangadin’s relatives then made arrangements for the cremation to take place the following day. However, the in-laws were not in favour of that and wanted it to be done on Wednesday, which was the deadline as stipulated by the court order.
As they were preparing to dress the body on Wednesday, police arrived and seized it telling relatives it was being transported to Georgetown for a third post-mortem examination (PME). But this was not done and by the time the body was returned some three hours later; it was too late to have a funeral service and cremation. Police then said that they wanted a burial and not a cremation in the event they needed to re-examine the body.
Late Wednesday afternoon, both families in the presence of their lawyers – Senior Counsel Bernard De Santos for the in-laws and Basil Williams for the woman’s relatives – met and agreed that the cremation would have been conducted yesterday.
However, the police yesterday again interfered in the arrangements and said that the body could not be cremated but must be buried.
Speaking to Stabroek News last evening, De Santos said Gangadin’s father-in-law had informed him that they no longer wanted to be part of the funeral arrangements because of the hassle and the repeated police interference.
He said the police yesterday instructed officials at the Ministry of Health not to issue an approval letter for the cremation, so when Gangadin’s uncle Heeralall Sookdeo turned up, none was given.
The Senior Counsel said that after this development he was contemplating returning to the court to get a consent order to go ahead with the cremation but his clients (the in-laws) decided against it.
“They just got frustrated and taken aback by the police and the political interference,” hence their decision not to participate in the funeral arrangements, De Santos added.
He added that the woman’s relatives had then started to build a tomb without the consent of the other side and this was wrong as they have no legal rights to the remains.
The husband has that right, he pointed out.
“But the law doesn’t mean anything these days… the police interfered with the judge’s order and frustrated them,” he said. He added that he was so relieved when the relatives on Monday shook hands and made that consent order. They were able to achieve an amicable resolution to the situation but then the police interfered.
“They (the police) took it without any legal right… that body is up and down and that is very undignified,” De Santos said.
Meanwhile, Sookdeo and other relatives and friends braved the inclement weather yesterday to build a tomb. The man said that he has been incurring huge financial costs because of these unnecessary delays.
He said that it is upsetting to know that after both families agreed to hold a cremation, the police said they could not do that. The police have presented no documentation instructing that the body be buried.
The man yesterday questioned if the police would reimburse some of the money that has so far been spent. He said he is not getting any assistance from the other side.
He said too that he was still puzzled over the disappearance of the body for more than three hours on Wednesday at the hands of the police as well as the reason behind it.
Sookdeo said that in spite of everything, today will not pass without the body being buried. Seven workers were able to complete the tomb, and Sookdeo later said that the burial will take place at 4 pm.
Yesterday afternoon the in-laws informed Sookdeo that they will not be a part of the funeral arrangements.
Gangadin’s mangled remains were discovered on the Vigilance public road, a short distance from the police station, two Sundays ago.
In addition to the murder charge, Dwarka was also charged with drunk driving.
