Municipal police to guard Monkey Town cemetery until judge visits

MUNICIPAL police officers will stand guard at the Monkey Town Public Cemetery until next Tuesday, when a High Court judge is expected to visit the burial plots of a Barrackpore family to determine if their remains were unearthed by roadworks.

Justice Frank Seepersad on Tuesday granted an injunction to Savitri Sookram preventing any access to the cemetery till next week. Any burials until then will have to get his permission.

The Penal/Debe Regional Corporation (PDRC) also cannot do any work at the cemetery.

Sookram took the corporation to court alleging that recent roadworks at the entrance have unearthed her family’s remains, including those of her late husband, who was buried there in 2018.

In granting the temporary injunction, Seepersad said he wanted to see if any bodies or burial plots were interfered with because of the roadworks.

“In a country confronted by unlawful activity where the living cannot rest in peace, we must ensure that the dead could rest in peace,” he said.

He urged the corporation to adhere strictly to the terms of the injunction, warning that any allegation that the site he intends to visit was disturbed will not meet the court’s favour.

“I want to see the bones that are said to be showing.”

Seepersad has also asked the Local Government Minister to exercise his authority to grant the necessary approvals for the Sookram family to re-bury their relatives’ remains. They have asked for the re-interment of the remains of the five bodies to be done in the same plot and must get the minister’s permission to do so.

He also granted Sookram permission to act on behalf of her husband’s estate and that of his relatives whose remains are buried in the family plot for the purpose of the lawsuit. He also gave permission for Sookram’s brother-in-law to be added as a party to the lawsuit.

Earlier in the hearing for the injunction application, attorney Narad Harrikissoon, who represents the PDRC, told the judge for a re-interment to be done in the same location, the roadworks would have to be completed first.

“We don’t want to be obstructionists, but the road has to be completed before the public is allowed to use the facility,” he said. Since January 24, there had been no burials at the cemetery, he said.

Harrikissoon provided photographs of the cemetery’s topography and the plots which were disturbed, admitting that a four-foot-by-20-metre portion was disturbed by excavation.

But Sookram’s attorney Wayne Beharry said it was a much wider area. He said Sookram has seen one bone protruding from the dirt and a portion of a coffin sticking out.

The Local Government Ministry was also represented at Tuesday’s hearing.