Pastor at funeral of slain Penal father, son: Trinidad and Tobago has become an evil place

This nation has transformed into an evil place where people no longer want to come, a religious leader said on Wednesday as he called on people to pray for the country to return to how it used to be.

Pastor Ravi Ramphal made the statement as he officiated at the funeral of slain father and son Anand "Pa" Kumar, 42, and his son Kishore "Papa Boy" Kumar, 18, at Boysie Boodoo's Funeral Home and Crematorium in Penal.

Ramphal, of the Cornerstone House of Praise, charged: "We have taken away from our system, from our youths, the fear of God."

Ramphal said the nation was once one of peace and hope and the land of the hummingbird.

He said it is time for man to live to please God and not himself. To see a decline in evil, people must seek God, he emphasised.

"We are being governed by men and leaders, people who we expect to lead. We ask the question, do they know what they are doing?

" Only God knows what he is doing. He does not make mistakes. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. If we aligned ourselves in the ways of God, things would be so much different."

Kumar and his son, as well as his brother-in-law Rolly "Andy" Hosein, were killed in an "execution-style" shooting at Mathura Avenue, Penal on April 25, before dawn.

The three victims were called out of their homes on the same compound by people purporting to be police.

The three and female relatives were awakened by a loud knock on their front door and heard a male voice say, "Police! Open the door."

Gunmen broke down the front door, made the three victims lie face down on the ground outside, then shot them.

The pastor referred to the father and son as "wonderful people" and "beautiful souls" who were always smiling and willing to help people "in any manner."

He urged mourners to "trust in God and believe that he knows the way and what is right.

"We must understand that God's ways are greater than man's. We are more than neighbours, more than a community. We were all created in the image and kindness of God. We must not see our neighbour as an enemy but as a brother or a sister."

The matching, closed coffins were side by side, each with a photo on top.

Relatives wept, but no one spoke at the funeral except the pastor.

The bodies were taken to the Batchyia cemetery for burial.

Earlier in the day, Hosein's funeral was held at the same place under Muslim rites. Imam Jamal Sookoor recited Chapter 36 of the Holy Quran in Arabic and later told mourners that the chapter deals with life and death.

He said Allah has control, dominion, and power over everything.

"He is the creator, and we are the creation," Sookoor said.

He urged people always to do good and not to do things that will cause others displeasure or heartache.

"Sometimes, as human beings, we do not have the capacity or knowledge to understand everything. But we know he has control over everything. We have to put our out trust in God. He will deal justly with every individual," he said. "Sometimes we have to satisfy ourselves with not being able to understand what has happened. For those of us who are alive, our journey continues. Some things may not be apparent to us at this time. "

He added that if it is the will of God, "perhaps later on we will understand why."

The imam suggested that no one should take matters into their own hands, as "you might do something bad."

No one has been arrested in connection with the murders and investigations are ongoing.