Mon Repos electrician died of head injuries

-widow says police could have prevented death

Jagdeo Thakurdeen, the Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara electrician who was found dead on Sunday night at Good Hope, died as a result of head injuries, a post-mortem examination has found and the man’s widow yesterday said that his death may have been avoided if police had acted on a report she made to them.

Thakurdeen, 35, was beaten to death, according to family members while police have officially

Jagdeo Thakurdeen
Jagdeo Thakurdeen

said that he was struck down as he walked along the Good Hope Railway Embankment road. A post-mortem examination was performed yesterday and only confirmed that the cause of death was due to head injuries.

While the man’s family yesterday said the police are looking at his death as murder instead of an accident, efforts to confirm this from Police Public Relations Officer Ivelaw Whittaker were futile.

Thakurdeen, his family had said, died after the driver of a car attempted to dislodge him from the bonnet of the  vehicle. The driver of the car refused to stop and drove with him hanging on the bonnet from La Bonne Intention (LBI) to Mon Repos. He then reversed the car and ended up on the railway embankment at Good Hope, where Thakurdeen’s body was later found.

His sister, Amrita, told Stabroek News that the driver of the car is still at large but the police had detained several persons to assist with the investigations.

Thakurdeen’s common-law wife, Kavita, called “Blondie,” said that the man’s death may have been avoided if the police officers at the Beterverwagting (BV) Police Station responded when she called an informed them that her husband was on a car bonnet and the car was heading in the direction of the station.

She said that when her husband jumped on the car bonnet, in a bid to retrieve a stolen car mirror, she contacted the police at BV and told them. “If they look out now they would a see me husband on de car. If they had come out, this won’t a happen,” she said, explaining that she has lost “the love of my life.”

The police officer who answered the call did not pay any heed to the woman’s call. Instead, she was asked to go to the station and make a report before action could be taken.

Kavita said she ran from LBI, where the incident begin, to the BV Police Station to get assistance for her husband because she knew that after the driver had driven off something was not right.

But by the time she could have gotten the police, the car with her husband had already passed BV.  Thakurdeen’s lifeless body was later found on the road at Good Hope, after the car was located.

Kavita also said that when she saw him she knew that something was wrong and that he was not in an accident. She said her husband did not have any broken bones other than the injuries to his head so she suspected he was beaten.

The man’s relatives are calling for the person who killed him to be dealt with according to the law.