Foul play not ruled out in teen’s death

Foul play has not been ruled out in the death of Penal teenager Karen Pustam who died in mysterious circumstances last Friday. Yesterday police said investigations into the 15-year-old student’s death were at a sensitive stage and they could not divulge further information. While no marks of violence were found on Pustam’s body, police sources confirmed foul play had not been ruled out. Pustam, a student of Penal Secondary School, who lived at Digity Trace, Penal, will be buried today at the Batchiya Trace cemetery, following a funeral service at her home. She was pronounced dead at the Penal Health Facility shortly after she was rushed there in an unconscious state. 

While an autopsy on the teen’s body was inconclusive, her mother, Sheila Sookhoo, is disputing claims her daughter was involved in a sexual relationship. Sookhoo, who spoke with the T&T Guardian yesterday, said there was no evidence the teenager was sexually active. She added: “That is ‘dotishness’. Everybody thinking and writing what they want. The autopsy had nothing like that that on it. “There was nothing found and no one can tell me what happened to my child. If she had sex, wouldn’t it have shown up? Wouldn’t it have been mentioned in the death certificate?” the upset mother asked.

Sookhoo said her daughter’s sudden death had left her with unanswered questions. “I just want to know what happened to my child. She was a joy in everybody’s life. She was always smiling and was never rude to anyone,” she said. According to police reports, at around 11.15 am last Friday, Pustam called her boyfriend and asked him to come to her home. When he arrived he found Pustam unconscious. She was rushed to the Penal Health Facility where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Sookhoo said her daughter stayed away from school last week because of the Carnival celebrations. She said she left the teen in perfect health at home on Friday and went to work. 

However, she added, she got worried after calls to the house phone and her daughter’s cellphone went unanswered. She said: “I started getting frantic and called the neighbours but no one had seen her. Then I got a call from a private number asking if I was Karen’s mom and the person then told me that Karen was on her way to Penal. “I know she had a lot of friends but nothing about a boyfriend. I don’t know who was with her. That is in the hands of the investigators. “She had no health problems. The only time she will get sick was with a fever or cold,” Sookhoo said. The mother said her daughter wanted to be a businesswoman and dreamed of running her own company. She said Pustam, a member of the Bollywood Dance Company, had a passion for East Indian dance and had been involved in the artform since the age of nine.