Members of the media were barred from entering the New Testament Church of God, California, yesterday, where the funeral of murdered mother of three, Hassina Sarah Khan, took place.
When the T&T Guardian visited the church yesterday, a woman who identified herself only as a church member, said Khan’s elder daughter had requested the media be barred from the funeral.
As soon as the hearse bearing Khan’s body came into the churchyard and her cream and gold coffin was carried into the building, ushers closed the church doors and stood watch outside.
Last Tuesday, Khan, 41, of Dow Village, California, went missing and relatives launched a frantic search for her. However, it would be three days later when her youngest daughter asked for her that a former lover led police to a shallow grave in a track off Incogen Road, California.
Khan’s body bore multiple stab wounds to the neck and was already decomposing. A handbag containing her personal belongings was found nearby.
An autopsy done at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, on Monday, confirmed Khan bled to death. She was last seen alive on the morning she went missing near her workplace at Universal Foods Ltd, Point Lisas, arguing with the same former lover.
Khan had taken out a restraining order against him the day before. Relatives told the media last week she had broken off a five-year relationship with the man two years ago but had remained on speaking terms with him.
ACCUSED REMANDED TO ST ANN’S
Christian Reynold, appeared in the Couva Magistrates’ Court charged with Hassina Khan’s murder. Reynold, 53, was represented by attorney Nigel Brown, when he stood before Magistrate Lucina Cardenas-Ragoonanan yesterday. Cardenas-Ragoonanan read the charge that sometime between January 11 and January 16, at Railway Road Extension, California, Reynold murdered Khan.
Brown asked that his client be sent to the St Ann’s Hospital. Brown said he had tried getting instructions from Reynold on how to proceed but was experiencing difficulties. Brown said Reynold attends the Couva Health Centre for a psychiatric condition.
Cardenas-Ragoonanan remanded Reynold’s to St Ann’s for evaluation. The matter was adjourned to February 16.