(Trinidad Express) Tragedy struck the Seecharan family again on Wednesday when Sherry Ann Seecharan was found dead.
Seecharan was released from police custody along with her teenage daughter in connection with the recent shooting death of prison officer Robert Seecharan.
Her son is now questioning why his mother never received counselling from the State.
The 36-year-old mother of four was discovered lying on a couch frothing from the mouth around 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday at her Barrackpore home.
Police said a bottle containing weedicide was found in a shed nearby.
Seecharan moved into her sister’s house at Rochard Road, Barrack-pore, after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) ordered that no charges would be laid against her and her 16-year-old daughter two Sundays ago.
Her son, Krishna Ganase, said his mother went into a state of depression following her release. Her four teenage children, who lived with their father, moved in with their mother after the incident.
“We decided to stay with her because she was depressed. We wanted to cheer her up,” he said.
Mom never recovered
Ganase, 19, said his mother showered and changed her clothes before telling relatives she was leaving on Wednesday morning.
“We went and bathe and then went in her bedroom. She come out and while walking down the steps say she was leaving and not coming back. But we believe she drank the poison in her bedroom and throw the bottle outside the window on a roof. Then she came down and went on the couch downstairs. I went out and when I reach I saw her on the couch frothing,” he said.
Ganase said by the time paramedics arrived, his mother was dead.
The teenager said his mother never recovered from the incident which claimed the life of her husband. And he questioned why she was not offered counselling from the State.
“My mother came out of that police station and no one ever questioned how she was doing. She was depressed. Many times she would say that she cannot adjust to this life and cannot live again.
“I knew how badly she was depressed, but I didn’t think she would take her own life like this. I could see the grief in my mother’s face. That is why we stayed with her. She never received counselling or anything.
I feel if she had professional treatment she would have been okay,” he said. Ganase said his sister, who was also detained in connection with the shooting, was traumatised by their mother’s death. And he pleaded for counselling for her. “I don’t want to lose my sister, too. She is a sickly girl and she has also been depressed since she came out. I want help for her,” he said.
History of violence
The mother and daughter were detained by police following the death of Seecharan’s husband. A police enquiry into the incident revealed Seecharan had endured five years of domestic abuse.
In a statement submitted to the DPP, Seecharan said she was severely beaten by her husband until she bled and he had threatened to kill her with his service firearm.
The shooting occurred as Seecharan, her husband and children were returning home from Quinam Beach on July 29.
Speaking to the media following her release, Seecharan said her husband began arguing with her 16-year-old daughter. The teenager was slapped repeatedly and pushed against a fence. Seecharan said she intervened and was attacked by the man. She was slammed against the car and beaten on the head until she became unconscious. Seecharan’s daughter, fearful the man would kill her mother, grabbed the prison officer’s service firearm and pulled the trigger.
Seecharan initially told police she had shot her husband. But her daughter later confessed to the shooting and was taken into police custody.
Both were released four days later.
Following her release, Seecharan said, “I will never forget this. I am back with my family again. I am happy to see my children.”
And she advised women to stand up against domestic violence.
“Don’t be a coward like me and take violence and end up in a situation like this. I lost my husband, but I would have lost my children and my life. Look for help. I was a coward,” she had said.
