1 dead, 1 hurt after quarrel over gardening

When Taramatie Ramsingh and a close male relative built a galvanize steel fence between their two homes on St John’s Branch Road in Siparia, the fence was meant to minimise interactions between the two and “keep the peace.”

But on Monday afternoon, a heated argument over the same fence left Ramsingh hospitalised with chop wounds, her friend Premnath Maraj chopped to death and the alleged suspect – a close male relative – on the run.

Newsday understands that shortly before 5 pm on Monday, Maraj was cutting the grass around Ramsingh’s home with a weed wacker. It is reported that the weed wacker dislodged pieces of gravel which hit the fence and the suspect’s home.

Annoyed by the gravel hitting the fence, and his home, the suspect reportedly confronted Maraj with a cutlass and chopped him to death after an argument.

Ramsingh was also chopped when she intervened, but survived.

After the attack, the suspect disappeared into some nearby bushes and his whereabouts are currently unknown.

Newsday visited on Tuesday and spoke to a close female relative of the suspect who witnessed the incident.

She claimed there were ongoing disputes between Ramsingh and the suspect, which is why the fence was built.

She tearfully told Newsday, “We always having an issue with his (the suspect’s) family. We always having an issue with them (including Ramsingh).

“The man was cutting the grass hard hard with the wacker and stone was pelting all over the place.

“(The suspect) told him that you cutting grass and you supposed to have a certain way to cut the grass because people are living here…I was sitting here when (the suspect) told him stop cutting the grass so.”

Claiming Maraj knew the suspect had a temper, she said he continued cutting the grass aggressively.

She recalled that a few minutes later, “He (the suspect) catch him (Maraj) by the tree there, and he really chop him. I didn’t watch it to see how much chop it was, but he get a few on his neck.

“I reach out too late (to intervene) when the guy was on the ground already.”

“She (Ramsingh) come out and she also get chop…I try to stop but I couldn’t stop it. I try to pull him, I push him, all kinda thing, but he was still chopping.”

She was unsure who called the police, but said they arrived around 6 pm, and the suspect was already gone.

The relative said she is now unsure what the future will look like, especially for his two children, who are ten and 11 years old.

When Newsday visited Ramsingh’s home, relatives including her husband Eugene Baptiste were cleaning up the blood which was splattered all over the house and the fence.

Baptiste, who has been married to Ramsingh for the past 11 years, wasn’t at home when the attack happened, but he gave a similar version of events, based on what he heard. Ramsingh is now warded at the San Fernando General Hospital.

Their five-year-old daughter, who was home during the attack, has been sent to stay with relatives.

Baptiste told Newsday, “How you go feel with a thing like that, boy? To know my lil daughter sit down and she watch that happen.

“He (the suspect) does real up act up and he’s always frustrated with the slightest thing and looking for bacchanal.”

While the suspect remains on the run, Baptiste said his family isn’t fearful for their safety.

Maraj’s friends paid tribute to him on Facebook. One friend wrote, “RIP bro, you didn’t deserve to die like that. Imagine today (Tuesday) is your birthday also.”

The suspect’s relative is now pleading with him to come home.

Breaking down in tears, she said, “I feel real hurt that he do that and I didn’t know that he was going to do that.

“To be honest, I know he’s going to get lock up and get murder for it.

“But I really want him to come home and I need him home...I know is by mistake it happen. But I don’t know how to get him back home. I have to get to him somehow, I just want to try to talk to him and be with him.”

She said if he returns, she will encourage him to surrender to the police.

Neither Ramsingh’s relatives nor the relatives of the alleged attacker have been offered counselling services by the police, they said.