In the early hours of Saturday, December 22, 2012, Bhimnay Rajnauth was asleep at her Ecclesville, Rio Claro home, unaware that she was about to go through every mother's worst nightmare.Twenty-three-year-old Richard Raman Rajnauth, also known as "Flash," had been to a party with friends in the Rio Claro area on Friday night. At approximately 5 am, he was brought home by three men, who told his mother he was drunk and had passed out on the back seat of the car they were in.
Bhimnay Rajnauth recalls asking the men to help her take her son inside. She quickly realised he was not breathing and begged them to put him in their car and take him to the nearby health facility. Richard was pronounced dead at the facility 6 am.However, his mother remembers a doctor telling her that her son had been dead for three hours before he was taken home.
Rajnauth was very emotional when she appeared on the set both on and off camera, and said: "That child was too nice, he used to sleep in my bed. I go to sleep crying and I wake up crying, just knowing my child died and I don't know how."The family is greatly affected by the loss of their youngest son and brother.
Rajnauth revealed that she gave birth to ten children, all boys, three of whom died in infancy. Richard was the youngest son born to her and her husband of over 44 years, who she said "is not well–he had a triple bypass–and he is taking it (our son's death) on plenty."She said: "If my child was sick or drowned, or had a heart attack, it would be ok, but seeing as I don't know how he died, that is hard for me."
Rajnauth also shared her concerns for her family's safety, and said she has lived in fear of being targeted should she push for a police investigation into the circumstances surrounding her son's death. She also questioned the autopsy results, which said Richard–who she insists was not in the habit of drinking heavily–died of "acute haemorrhagic pancreatitis, developed as a result of excessive alcohol consumption with a toxic effect of alcohol accumulated over several hours of drinking."
Richard's brother, Rajendra Rajnauth, who witnessed the autopsy, said the pathologist showed him a white bubbly substance that was found in his brother's airways, and informed him that would only arise as a result of ingesting illegal substances such as cocaine.A toxicology report was ordered but the family has not received any results to date.Rajendra said the family was so focused on putting their loved one to rest that they declined to commission a second autopsy, a decision he said they regret to this day.
Crime Watch host Ian Alleyne expressed outrage at the lack of investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of such a vibrant young man.Asked how he intended to pursue the matter, he said: "I am going to hunt down each and every one of those men who dropped off that lady's son home dead in her gallery and did not try to seek medical attention for him. It is outrageous that a young man could die like that and no one is trying to help this family get closure."
Richard's youngest brother, Roshan Rajnauth, worked with him offshore and said he and his brother underwent weekly drug and alcohol tests, making it even more suspicious that the autopsy revealed he died of an alcohol-related complication.Roshan said: "He was my best friend. I worked with him and we spent a lot of time together."This is really hard on me and it's hard on my entire family, especially my parents. He was a good boy. I helped him get his job and I always made sure he was first in line for the (drug) tests.
"I miss him every day."