Brother murdered

MEENA BHIM was sitting in the living room yesterday morning when she saw something red dripping from the wooden ceiling of her Churoo Village, Princes Town home. On checking, she realised it was blood.

Fearing the worst, she went to the upstairs section of the wooden house where she found her brother Besham Bhim, 33, lying on the floor in his kitchen, blood seeping from a stab wound to the right side of his neck. He lived alone on the top floor. A few minutes later, he stopped breathing.

Near his body lay a torn envelope. Bhim who was a gas station pump attendant, usually got his salary in cash, in an envelope. Police believe robbery to be the motive and the killer was someone he knew since there were no signs of forced entry.

Police said Bhim worked the night shift and returned home at 6.30 am. His sister said that it was about 8.30 am that she first noticed the dripping blood. Reena Ramcharan, another sibling, said Meena is struggling to cope with what she saw. “It is really horrifying to know what happened to our brother. They could have just taken the money and left him...but no, they killed him one time,” Ramcharan said.

She said her brother was a hard working man who did not deserve such a death. “All he did was work hard to try and make end meets.” Ramcharan said when her sister discovered her brother’s body, she called her. “Meena called me screaming and crying, I could not believe what she was telling me. I rushed down to the house to see my brother on the ground bleeding, but he was still breathing.”

She said they called the ambulance and police. “The ambulance took over an hour before they came.

We kept calling them and they said they did not have any vehicles available. I could not believe it. My brother was not talking and I watched him on the ground take his last breath. Then he grew still and that was it. Right there, I lost my brother.”

Ramcharan believes if the ambulance had arrived sooner, medics could have saved his life. Councillor for the area, Shawn Premchand visited the family and later told Newsday this was not the first murder to occur in the community. Premchan said he grew up with Besham and described him as a respectable young man who was not involved in any criminal activities.

The councillor said he too is upset that the ambulance services did not respond quickly to the family’s call for help. Up to press time, no arrest was made and investigations are continuing.