On the one-year anniversary of the discovery of the mutilated bodies of West Coast Berbice (WCB) teenagers Joel and Isaiah Henry, President Irfaan Ali said the government supports the Guyana Police Force (GPF) in its efforts to ensure that the perpetrators of the crime face the “fully penalty” of the law.
“…We support the Guyana Police Force in working as hard as possible to ensure that those who are responsible will face the full penalty of the law,” Ali said on Monday in response to questions from reporters.
“It was a very, very sad period and continues to be a sad part of our history. We pray and hope that situations like these never arise again in our country. Our prayers and thoughts continue to be with all the families who would have lost loved ones in that period of our history,” Ali said.
In a statement issued yesterday, the leadership of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) stated that one year later justice is yet to be served to the Henry Family and the nation as a whole.
The party reiterated that the justice owed to the family of Joel and Isaiah Henry remains a promise, while voicing its belief that the due diligence and expedience required to bring a resolution to this matter have not been given.
Against this background, it called on the Guyana Police Force and the Government of Guyana to assign importance to the matter and employ the necessary resources and professionalism to bring those responsible to justice. “…[W]e call on the Government of Guyana to request, if necessary, the technical support of our regional partners both in CARICOM and in the South American Region to assist us in providing some resolution and calm to the parents and relatives of Joel and Isaiah Henry,” the statement added.
Isaiah, 16, a student at the Woodley Park Secondary School and Joel, 18, who worked at the Blairmont Estate, went missing on Saturday, September 5, 2020 after they left home for the Cotton Tree backlands to pick coconuts.
After they did not return home, relatives lodged missing persons’ reports with the police and subsequently launched a search. It was while searching that the bodies of the teens were discovered.
Autopsies performed on the bodies of the teenagers showed that they both died from haemorrhage and shock due to multiple wounds.
Three men, Vinod Gopaul, Anil Sancharra and Akash Singh, were charged on January 15 this year with the murders and remanded to prison.
The men were arrested by the police on January 10 and 11. One of them allegedly provided the police with a statement, which was video recorded, detailing his involvement in the crime.
However, in early July, two of the three accused, Vinod Gopaul and Anil Sancharra were discharged by Magistrate Peter Hugh, who had found that the evidence against the men in the murder of Isaiah Henry was insufficient.
The two are also facing a joint charge in relation to the murder of Henry’s cousin, Joel Henry.
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack had immediately requested the documents taken at the Preliminary Inquiry to decide on how to proceed.
The DPP in a statement then had maintained that there was sufficient evidence against the two accused. She said she had requested the documents taken at the PI in order to ascertain why the accused were discharged and to take appropriate action. The two men have since been charged again with the crime.
