The saying “out of evil cometh good” manifested itself on Monday as Government agencies and good Samaritans came to the assistance of the poverty-stricken family of four-month-old Sanjay Seepersad, who suffered a near-death experience last week. However, officials from the Ministry of the People and Social Development, Penal/Debe Regional Corporation and workers at Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s constituency office could not immediately help after a visit to the family.
Councillor for Barrackpore East Vishnu Ramlakhan said the problem arose because Sanjay and his one-year-old sister Rihanna did not have birth papers and their relatives were without documents for the land on which their ramshackle home stands. He said: “The problem is that the children were not registered. They had no birth paper. The family was advised to have the children registered and then go to the social welfare office for assistance.
“They also do not have electricity and water and the problem is that they don’t have documents for the land.” Ramlakhan said the relative who had the deed was out of the country but should return by month’s end. In the meantime, he said, it was crucial for the family to receive counselling to deal with last week’s incident, as well as advice on how to manage their resources.
Last Wednesday, Sanjay’s father Rishi Seepersad allegedly took him away from his 20-year-old mother Nadia Hosein, after a domestic dispute at their Rampersad Trace, Clarke Road, Penal, home. Seepersad allegedly went into the forest where he hung Sanjay over a pond and threatened to kill him. The child was rescued after he was thrown into a clump of bushes as Seepersad tried to evade police officers.
He was eventually held and reappeared before a Siparia magistrate yesterday and was remanded into custody until August 16, as his family could not afford to pay his $100,000 bail. When reporters visited Sanjay and his family at their home, their lives of abject poverty were revealed to the public.
A relative told the T&T Guardian, workers from the Siparia constituency office had contacted them and offered support for the children, while officers from the Ministry of the People and Social Development had come to assess the family for the allocation of a food card. She said: “People, like her (Hosein) relatives, who saw the article are bringing goods and clothes. Other people are bringing clothes, grocery stuff and milk for the children.”
However, she said, the family was now experiencing a bittersweet feeling. She said although they were getting much needed help, they were missing Seepersad. The relative said: “To tell you the truth, they are happy but they are upset because they don’t like what happened on the whole. I said to them, the only way for him (Seepersad) to learn is stay in jail because it was not the first that it happened.”