Joshua Samaroo, whose mother was one of three persons who drowned near the Number 63 Beach in February, is yet to receive her remains so that he can perform her final rites and begin his path to closure as DNA testing to verify her identity has still not been concluded.
Sam aroo, of New Amsterdam, told Stabroek News that he is at his wits’ end with the situation considering that the families of the other victims were given an opportunity to move on, while he is still waiting for his mother’s remains.
His mother, Sherida Hussain, also known as ‘Sherry’, 49, of Lot 274 Pilot Street, New Amsterdam, Alwin Joseph, 30, a welder, of P Chandishawweg, District Paramaribo, and Babuni Harihar, also known as ‘Doris’, 75, a pensioner, of Number Two Village, East Canje Berbice boarded a boat in Suriname on the evening of February 8 to travel to Guyana via the backtrack route. Sometime around 7 pm on the same day, they were dropped off at a
sandbank at the Number 63 Beach, Corentyne. Hussain had called her son around 7.30 pm and informed him that they were surrounded by waist-high water.
“She was saying that they’re off at some bank and the water is up to her waist,” Samaroo had told this publication. She had also related to her son that that she couldn’t see land. The three were then reported missing and searches were immediately launched for them. Two days later the bodies of Joseph and Harihar were discovered. However, Hussain’s decomposed body was only discovered on March, 5, along the Number 48 Village, Corentyne foreshore. On March 6, a post-mortem examination was done and samples were taken from the body and Joshua to be sent for DNA testing.
Samaroo noted, that he was able to identify the body based on a scar his mother had on her leg. However, the last official word from police in Berbice was that they were awaiting the results from DNA tests to release the body. “They had said two weeks after, so I was waiting and then after I kept calling but nothing,” the distressed lad noted yesterday.
However, a source told Stabroek News that the lab is reportedly in need of a sample from another close relative to carry out the testing. Samaroo yesterday said that this was never relayed to him. “They never told me this but I am the only one here for mommy but they never told me this,” he insisted yesterday.
He said he is unsure who is responsible for the testing but added that he is seeking to have his mother’s remains. “They longer they wait, my life is on hold”, he said, while noting that he is yet to return to work since the accident.
The young man stressed, that it is surprising to note that although he lost his mother he now has to go through this situation. “I am the only one held back by this and everyone got an opportunity to move on but still we are waiting. I want to do her last rites so that we can know we did absolutely everything for her,” he added.
Hussain’s body remains at the Anthony Funeral Home located in the Upper Corentyne Area.
Samaroo added that on March, 23, he emailed President Irfaan Ali’s office about the situation. His email was acknowledged the following day, he said, but no one has reached out to him.
The young man is calling on the authorities to intervene and have his mother’s remains released to him.
