Trinidad: Police called in for floating Murti mistaken for human body

FALSE ALARM: Police and undertakers at the Ste Madeleine pond.
FALSE ALARM: Police and undertakers at the Ste Madeleine pond.

(TRINIDAD NEWSDAY) What was believed to be the body of a man floating in the Ste Madeleine pond Wednesday afternoon, instead turned out to be a murti (consecrated statue of a Hindu deity). Ste Madeleine police went to the pond after someone made a report. But when they arrived there and investigated, they realised the “body” was in fact a murti. They retrieved it and left the scene.

Also present was councillor Shawn Premchand who said he went there immediately after hearing that a body was found.

From January to April, three people were killed and their bodies dumped in the pond. The latest victim, found in April, was a man whose decomposing body was found wrapped in plastic and linoleum and placed inside garbage bags.

In May, there was also a report of a woman leaving a child at the pond. Coast Guard divers searched and returned empty handed.

It was reported that a group of people had heard a woman screaming at the water’s edge, then saw her walking away and getting into a car, before a baby was heard crying.

A senior police told Newsday yesterday that all reports are taken seriously. He said yesterday’s report of a “body” at the pond was not different from any other.