Homicide officers yesterday found the charred remains and piece of a skull in a latrine (outhouse) at the back of a dilapidated wooden house at Black Street, Reform Village, Gasparillo.
The remains are believed to be that of missing 52-year-old Deoraj Bedassie, who was last seen on his birthday on March 26.
However, investigating officers have requested DNA swabs from siblings. This will be used to match DNA extracted from the bones found to determine if the remains are Bedassie. Shortly after 11 am yesterday, Homicide officers called in a sewer truck to a neighbour’s yard to pump out a latrine and a nearby cesspit in search of Bedassie’s body. The officers said they were acting on information they received during their investigations.
Crime Scene Investigators and other officials searched the latrine and found the charred skeletal remains. The officers also found a huge piece of bone believed to be a skull. Officers said they believed the body was burned next to the latrine and the remains dumped in it. The remains were found just after 1 pm and were viewed by the District Medical Officer, bagged and sent to the Forensic Science Centre in St James.
When news spread that the bones were found, ear-piercing screams of anguish rang out from close relatives, including Bedassie’s two sisters – Doolin and Monica Lochan.
“Why did they have to kill my brother like that? He never did anything so wrong and always kept to himself. He didn’t deserve to die like that,” Monica said. Monica described her brother as a joyous but quiet person.
On Monday night, officers of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad and Homicide Bureau (South) detained a 24-year-old Barrackpore man for questioning.
The missing person’s report was only made at the Gasparillo Police Station on Sunday, by relatives who noticed bloodstains all over the walls and pillars in the verandah of his house. On the night of his birthday, Bedassie reportedly had a confrontation with a 24-year-old man and he was subsequently badly beaten, neighbours and relatives who witnessed the incident told the T&T Guardian.
Bedassie, who was never married and had no children, was not missed from the area until Sunday by one of his nieces, who began to enquire about his whereabouts.
Speaking with the T&T Guardian, Bedassie’s niece, Shivanie Nickchadee, said she knew her uncle was badly beaten by a man well known to them and who lived nearby. She admitted she did not see him around the day after his birthday but thought he had gone to one of his siblings’ home to spend a few days.
On Monday, AKS officers interviewed neighbours and close relatives. Later that night, another team of police cordoned off the area and officers stood guard overnight.
Bedassie is a former Caroni 1975 Limited worker and had acquired two acres of agricultural lands and a residential plot. He recently sold the lands and was receiving payments in parts.
Preliminary investigations revealed Bedassie may have been robbed and beaten. He reportedly had $29,000 on him the day he went missing. Investigating officers said a motive is yet to be established, but believe the suspect they had in custody will be able to help them.
