Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Crying in London

Only Trinidad could break your heart like this.

Dead at 13 in sex attack
Enterprise shocked over torture of victim

Richard Charan rcharan@trinidadexpress.com
Tuesday, October 31st 2006

The bedroom of a vacant house was a torture chamber with no escape for 13-year-old Permanand Persad, who was sodomised and savaged by a man he considered his friend.
His head was split open when he was bashed against a wall by his killer, who tried to cut off his limbs.

His face was beaten in and his back and chest were chopped. His throat slit.

Yesterday, police said when Permanand's body was found, it was naked, except for a jersey wrapped around his face. Most of his teeth were missing. Police found the teeth in a cup.
An autopsy later in the day confirmed the sexual assault and that Permanand's spine was broken.

He was killed on Sunday afternoon at a house off Crown Trace, Enterprise, Chaguanas.
It was an act of kindness that took Permanand to the house. The suspect asked him to buy a box of food and Permanand took it to the house. Permanand lived three houses from the one in which he died.

It was raining while he was being tortured and killed. That is why police believe no one heard any screams.

The suspected killer did not go far.
When Permanand's body was found that evening by the homeowner, the killer was in the crowd that came to try and identify the boy, whose face was beaten until unrecognisable, investigators said.

A 28-year-old suspect, from the area, ate his mother's dinner and went to bed.
When police went for him at 9 a.m. yesterday, he jumped through a back window and ran to a garden camp where he spent his day allegedly smoking cocaine.

Police credited the village where Permanand lived for helping in the hunt that led to the arrest of the killer three hours later. The suspect was headed for the highway when held.

Permanand was a pupil of the Chaguanas Junior Secondary School. He lived with his aunt, Sita Ramroop, and uncle, Devan Maharaj.
His parents, Vimala and Ram Persad, were too poor to care for Permanand, and his sister, Tricia, 11. Maharaj said his nephew "was a favourite in the village. Everybody loved that boy. He was quiet and respectful".

Maharaj said the boy had worked cutting lawns to buy deyas to light around his home for Divali.
His body was found in a toilet and bathroom enclosure in the bedroom of the home of a woman who visited at 3.45 p.m.

She ran, thinking it was her son. The blood was everywhere.
Police said Permanand fought for his life.
His body was identified by his father who said: "I couldn't believe it, not my son. Look what drugs and addicts could do."
Permanand's mother said: "He would do anything for me. He was a good boy. I didn't even know it was him in the mortuary."

The killer changed his blood-soaked pants and joined them in identifying the body, villagers said.
Ramroop said: "He told everybody he would never kill a child, and then he went home."
Using a helicopter and tracker dogs, police searched a one square mile of abandoned cane field off Dass Trace, Egypt Trace and Endeavour Road. They were tipped off by several villagers who spotted the suspect in his garden shack.

Villagers had given the police until nightfall to catch the man. They vowed vigilante justice if he was not apprehended by then.

Sookoo Jaggan, who lives a mile from the murder scene, saw the police arrest the suspect.
He said: "The man was wearing a yellow shorts and slippers, walking cool, cool on the road, like he just come from hunting, when the police spot him."

Jaggan said the police snatched and searched the man, who was smiling.

Permanand's funeral will be held on Thursday.

Central Division homicide offices are investigating.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

It aches my heart to see what is happening in Trinidad, although it is a nation wide epedimic but when its occuring so frequently in your country is very very sad.
It is worst when the PM we have seems to pay no attention to the seriousness of crime.
Our government needs to invest their time in establishing drug rehab programs, counseling, community centers, beter school system so no child is left behind,
social services to go out into the commuinty...
I am loss for words...what can be done to better the suitation and how fast???

Anonymous said...

OMG, that made me sick. That brought tears to my eyes instantly. My heart goes out to the boy's family, and may he rest in peace after such a horrific ending to a too-brief life. I agree with Alexia - the crime situation is terrifying, especially in terms of how it looks from abroad. From my family and friends, I hear that life is pretty much normal. But reading stuff like that, and it seems equally horrific incidents crop up way too often, makes me scared to go home. And I HATE feeling that way about sweet T&T. I sincerely hope that the government focus their attention on curbing crime and the ravaging effects of hard drugs. Thanks for posting, HottieHottie. Sometimes we need to shine a light on the darkness, no matter how painful these things are to see.

Anonymous said...

Oh Lord!!! But what yuh could say after that?? Trinidad has so many good things about it, but also some horrific things. I wonder who will be the true leader in our country to take this crime in hand and not just pay lip service to doing it. How his parents and family must feel!! He was just a baby really, only 13!!! This really hurts boy!

tacariguagirl said...

It's a sad sad day for Trinidad; crime is everywhere but my God it seems that these bastards are taking it to a whole new level. I cannot believe the torture and pain that poor child was made to endure and for the perpertrator to act like everything normal after is just unheard off....Thanks HH for highlighting this article.....I read your blog everyday and it is always amusing but sometimes we have to address the serious issues that plague our sweet TnT!

Icahwait* said...

This is just absolutely sick and disgusting. I cannot fathom how somebody could even carry out that kinda shit. (excuse my language)
When things like this get highlighted it just reminds me of the fact that not everyone is normal as you'd like to think they are. Some real physcos out there. I don't even know how they could live with themselves.
Anybody who can purposely harm another person isn't normal in my eyes, because normal people have a heart, mind & restraint. I don't know nah, I just don't know. He was just a child for Christ sake.

Vami said...

I am speechless and i feel totally helpless.

Hottie Hottie said...

Vami, I know exactly how you feel. Something inside of me has gone dead. I'm not at all sure what to say or do but I feel an undeniable need to do and say something. I feel - numb. Like when something hurts so much the body stops feeling as a safety mechanism.

tacariguagirl said...

I have been online all day reading the comments posted on the trinidadexpress website, it is heartbreaking, I think because we read the gory details I feel like I just can't shake this......I also feel numb and helpless, however, I just spoke to one of my friends back home and he seemed so totally unaffected it's beyond me, I don't know how they could be so oblivious to the deteriorating society that they live in....lawd put ah hand!

Hottie Hottie said...

I sent emails to friends up here today asking them if they'd seen the story. Some ignored me, the minority said yes. All of them quickly moved on to another topic. I know the reasoning is probably that it's too horredous and painful to deal with so let's ignore it. But if we don't deal with it, what is the other option? To accept it?! We're all working harder so we can make more money to have better lifestyles and the argument is, "I'll move my family into a safer neighbourhood and drop them everywhere myself and send them to private schools." Living in a bubble is not the answer. Crime will just follow you there anyway. All of us grew up with less but we had more. How did our parents manage to keep us safe?

Vami said...

i wish if the law was enforced in trinidad! just a little bit at least so that children will at least feel safe....if not adults, at least children.

Crankyputz said...

That is horrible. This is the second such story I read about something like this in Trini land, which is such a shame since the people seem to have such a beautiful spirit about them.

Hottie Hottie said...

And I have a serious problem with the sensational manner in which the reporter wrote this story. Anyho you take it the story is alarmingly horrific. Did they need to put the headline "Dead at 13 in sex attack?" It could easily have been "Teen tortured, killed by addict/friend/neighbour." Look, I can't even continue with this nah.

Crankyputz, welcome by the way.