Family squabble over what to do with thief’s body

Were it not for the fact that Krishenlal Ramcharan left behind two children, a relative of his was willing to abandon his body and let the government give him a pauper’s funeral and burial in an unmarked grave.

“The Government would have had to see about that. I wanted no part in it but the others (siblings) said we should claim his body. It is only because of his children, that he will be getting a proper funeral. When I heard they killed him, I refused to go to the scene,” a close relative said yesterday.

Ramcharan, 33, also called Martay and Darryl fell into a pond and died following a shoot-out with police on Wednesday in Barrackpore. While one relative was all for leaving his body at the morgue for the State to deal with, others said Ramcharan’s children, aged 13 and nine, ought to get a chance to mourn his death and say their final goodbye to him.

Relatives said the manner in which he died came as no surprise to them because of the bad company he kept. “You live by the sword, you died by the sword. We knew something like this was coming...it was just a matter of time. About four months now he gone bad and kept bad company. He never listened to us,” said the relative who wanted to abandon Ramcharan’s body.

Police said Ramcharan was wanted for a series of robbery and gun related offences. “If you looked at the company he kept, we knew nothing good was going to come out of it. He never listened to us and he also did drugs. But he was a good mason so he had the potential to lead a upstanding life,” the relative said.

Officers of the Southern and South-Western divisions, responding to reports of larceny, went in pursuit of Ramcharan and an accomplice who were in a stolen car. During a shoot-out, Ramcharan fell into a pond while the other suspect, who was also shot, was apprehended at Sukhan Trace.

Police found a gun, several rounds of ammunition as well as ski masks in the stolen car. Police said the men used stolen vehicles to commit robberies. The accomplice, 22, of Barrackpore and Princes Town was yesterday still warded at San Fernando General Hospital under police guard. Relatives said that funeral arrangements are still being finalised.