Pastor's plea at funeral: Let there be no more Andreas

EVEN as the nation remains in mourning over the kidnapping and murder of Andrea Bharatt, the pastor officiating at her funeral called on the country – from leaders right down to the common man – to do all within their power collectively and individually, to ensure there are no more Andreas.

Pastor Terrence William did not mince words as he took all of society to task for Bharatt's murder and exhorted the nation to wake up. William was in fine verbal form at the funeral at the Faith Assembly International Church, Range Road in Arouca.

William, who was also Bharatt's pastor at the Word of Life Christian Assembly in Arima, spoke before a packed congregation and before thousands of virtual onlookers as the funeral was streamed "live" on various digital media platforms.

Noting the attendance of Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, MP for Arima Penelope Beckles-Robinson and political activist Phillip Edward Alexander at the funeral, William said Bharatt's death had united the nation and he hoped leaders in society will resolve to work together to strengthen the criminal justice system.

In noting that a man who was held in connection with Bharatt's murder and who had 70 criminal charges against him, William asked if TT's criminal justice system actually works in favour of the criminal element rather than for law-abiding citizens. That man and another suspect, both died while in police custody. Another man has since been charged with Bharatt's murder.

"I am calling upon everyone...this just cannot continue. We do not want to see news or hear of another Andrea. We do not want it madam Opposition Leader and madam MP for Arima.

"What is going on in this country? Do you know the pain brother Bharatt (Andrea's father Randolph) is feeling? Do the criminals have more rights than we the law-abiding citizens? We appeal to our people in government, those responsible (for law and order), I beg of you...we don't want to read in the newspapers of another Andrea," he declared as Bharatt's father and other mourners applauded.

Williams said while Bharatt's murder is still fresh in the minds of people, the public must also understand that any woman or child in the country could be a victim, could be another Andrea.

He lashed out at Bharatt's killer/s asking how people can be capable of such callousness and such violence. "The person or people who did this to Andrea, they don't have love in them. They don't have the spirit of Christ in them. But what spirit was behind the people who did this?" He said that in this country, the principle of being each other's keeper has been lost in the hustle and bustle of life.

William said he felt pain deep emotional and physical pain when he heard that Bharatt had been found dead, her body dumped down a precipice in the Heights of Aripo.

"I felt pain when my mother died. I felt pain when my nephew was murdered. But when Andrea died, the pain was excessive. The pain caused by her death is the worst agony I have felt in my life," he declared.

Apart from relatives, friends and work colleagues, journalists and officers from the TTPS Special Operations Response Team (SORT) were also present at the funeral. Following the funeral, Bharatt's body was taken to Belgrove's Funeral Home in Tacarigua for cremation.