Man buried yesterday, cremation for brother, wife today

A day is coming for whoever committed the atrocious crime at Penal in which three members of a family were murdered, Imam Kazim Ali told a handful of mourners yesterday.

Officiating at the funeral of Nazim Mohammed, 52, at the Marabella masjid yesterday, he called for unity and camaraderie in communities saying crime is at its highest rate.

“Blood is being shed every day and all over. It is the order of the day. This is not what is expected of people. We are supposed to be kind and generous. There is no harmony, there is no peace. We should be our brother’s keeper.　We have to bring back love and camaraderie to the society,” Ali said.

The decomposing bodies of Mohammed, his brother Wazir, also called Punkhan, 57, and Wazir’s wife Shelly-Ann Raghunnanan-Mohammed, 43, were found on Thursday at the family’s home at Clarke Road in Penal.

The couple’s young children – a four-year-old girl and an eight-month-old boy – were with the bodies for days before their eldest sibling Vishal made the discovery. The children are still in hospital.

An autopsy revealed Mohammed and his sister-in law’s throats were slit. Wazir had also been shot twice.

The couple is expected to be cremated today after a funeral under Hindu rites.

Standing next to the sealed coffin yesterday, the imam said the authorities cannot stop crime.

Ali, who is also the chairman of the ASJA Imam Council, said: “They could pass whatever laws they want; crime will never stop until people change what is in their hearts.We have to understand the importance and value of lives. No one knows when our time will come and how it will happen.”

Clarke Road residents had told Newsday the Mohammed family was very private and hardly spoke to anyone. From the turnout at the funeral, it seemed Mohammed lived a secluded life. Only ten people, including the driver of the hearse, attended. The others were six pallbearers, among them two of Raghunnanan-Mohammed’s brothers and her son Vishal, the imam and two other representatives from the masjid.

“Today they may not be held accountable. But tomorrow when death is called among us and we end this earthly life, surely they (murderers) will have to answer for whatever wrong they did in this life.” Raghunanan-Mohammed’s brother Shiva Raghunanan thanked the handful of mourners for attending, saying his sister and her family lived a “very peaceful life.”

He lives abroad and the Raghunanan family, he said, arranged the funeral. Speaking to Newsday he referred to the murderers as “vultures” and said the murder rate in TT is “unbelievable.” He said the family will assume the responsibility of taking care of the orphans and would “guide them in the right way.” Mohammed was buried at the Batchyia cemetery at Penal.

No one has been arrested for the murders.