Years of ill-feelings and heated arguments between labourer Rajendranath Khelawan and a male relative ended in bitter tragedy on Sunday night when he was stabbed to death during an argument at their Debe home.
Since leaving Khelawan, 59, bleeding on the ground of their kitchen the relative has been on the run and up to last night no one had seen or heard from him.
Speaking to the T&T Guardian yesterday, Khelawan’s sister, Taramatee, said she was asleep at the family’s home at Ramrattan Maharaj Trace when around 10.30 pm she was awakened by calls from their 80-year-old mother, Basdaye, who lives downstairs with the men
As she walked into the kitchen, she said she was gripped with horror at the sight of her brother lying in blood.
Within 15 minutes, police, led by ASP Sharon Cooper, Insp Steve Persad and Sgt Dale Ramroop, responded along with an ambulance but Khelawan was already dead.
An autopsy at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, yesterday by forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov showed Khelawan was stabbed several times.
Recalling the incident, Taramatee said: “My mom was calling us to see what was going on because she heard the noise and saw blood. We rushed down but everything had happened already. We did not see or witness anything. All we saw was blood and him sitting in the corner.”
She said for years there were constant arguments between the two men for minor things and Khelawan had even threatened to chop his alleged killer during a previous argument.
“I know they were always arguing but for little things. I did not know it would have ended like this. The deceased always threatened to chop him (suspect) up,” Taramatee said.
“I can’t really say what happened. We were asleep when my mom got all frantic and we came down and saw what had already happened,” she added.
As relatives cleaned the yard yesterday preparing for a wake service, Basdaye sat on the porch with a pained expression.
Her granddaughter, who asked not to be identified, said Basdaye was shaken by Khelawan’s death and still reeling from the effects of a stroke she suffered years ago.
She said the family was thrown into shock as they never believed someone sharing the same bloodline would commit such an act.
She said both men slept in bedrooms a few feet apart and would constantly argue about different issue but no one believed any one of those situations could have ended in death. She said while Khelawan did not drink alcohol she believed his killer might have had a few drinks.
“For years this thing taking place with both of them. We know people argue but it hurts more when your own blood is arguing this way,” she said.
Hairdresser shot
A Moruga hairdresser escaped serious injury on Sunday night when she was shot following an argument with a group of men.
Nikki-Ann Marchan, 28, of Penal Rock Road, Moruga, was treated at the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) for a gunshot wound to her hand.
Police said Marchan and friend, Alicia La Fortune, 31, were passengers in her boyfriend Kevon La Foucade’s car around 11.20 pm. La Foucade was driving along the Palmer Street, Basse Terre Village, when he met a black Hyundai Matrix blocking the intersection to the Moruga Road.
Marchan and La Foucade came out the car and saw a man they knew speaking to four other men.
They approached the men and an argument started. While returning to their vehicles, several gunshots were fired and Marchan was hit in the hand. The couple entered the vehicle and La Foucade drove to the Princes Town District Health Facility, where Marchan was treated and transferred to the SFGH.
Sgt Farrel and officers from the Moruga Police Station responded and one of the suspects was arrested. A search for the other suspect is ongoing.