Relative: Siparia chopping death was ‘ugly’

A relative has described the chopping death of 64-year-old Ramdath Maharaj as ugly. The family had expected that one day, he might be killed, but not in such a brutal manner.

“We never expected him to die like that,” a close relative told Newsday. “We thought we might get a call one day that he was killed, because he kept bad company. Thank God we got his body, so we can have a funeral.

"I cannot say what he could have done for anyone to chop him like that. The police said it was bad. I did not get to see the body and I do not know what transpired.”

Maharaj’s dismembered remains were found in Siparia on the afternoon of December 2.

Maharaj, also known as “Ras” and “Salt,” was unemployed and did not have a fixed place of abode. Originally from Thick Village in Siparia, he was unmarried and childless.

On December 3, the relative, who asked to remain unnamed, said Maharaj was a drug user. The family had tried many times to help him kick his bad habit without success.

“He was naughty and never listened to anybody. He loved to smoke.

"He had his good side and was not a fighter, so people took advantage of him. In the past, Salt worked as a truck driver, tractor driver, mechanic and he also ran errands for people,” the relative said.

His mother died about 30 years ago, hoping he would change before she died.

Relatives saw him occasionally on the streets and he would ask for money.

South Western Division police received an anonymous tip-off around 2.10 pm on December 2 and went along a track to Trainline in Quinam Road in Sennon Village, Siparia.

About 175 feet off the road, they found a flat concrete-and-wooden structure.

Inside, they found the body with multiple chop wounds on a mattress.

The left arm was almost severed at the wrist, and both legs appeared to have been severed above the knees and were missing. The head had blunt force injuries, making the face unrecognisable.

The Homicide Bureau of Investigations (HBI), Region Three, police were notified and helped search for the missing body parts.

Police returned to the area on December 3 to continue the search.

Investigators do not have a motive and no one has been arrested.