Senior Reporter
sascha.wilson@guardian.co.tt
Many unanswered questions linger as a family and the community of Friendship Village, Ste Madeleine, reel in shock and grief over the death of 12-year-old schoolgirl Mariah Seenath.
Mariah, a Form Three student at San Fernando East Secondary, was found dead around 12.50 pm on Saturday on a track near the neighbourhood recreation ground.
The girl and her three siblings often used the bushy track as a shortcut between their home and their grandmother’s house.
Mariah’s father, Marlon Seenath, who returned to the area yesterday to search for clues, said his daughter had discoloured marks on her stomach and chest.
One of her slippers was found on the track, while her body lay about five feet away in a grassy area. She was discovered by a neighbour who had been alerted by a dog. Mariah was dressed in a grey jersey and black track pants.
Relatives suspect she may have been attacked, dragged into the bushes, and beaten, but officers of the Region 3 Homicide Bureau are awaiting the results of an autopsy, scheduled for this week, before confirming whether foul play was involved.
Trying to contain his emotions, 40-year-old Seenath, a single father of four, said Mariah’s dog had chased after the hearse that took her body away.
Mariah had spent the night at her paternal grandmother’s home but left shortly after 7 am to return home. Relatives said they knew she had arrived because she had soaked her school uniform and taken a photo of her father sleeping in a hammock.
They believe she was returning to her grandmother’s house when the attack occurred. Relatives reported seeing a man known to the family walking with her, though police have not confirmed this.
Seenath said he had gone swimming at Flowerpot Beach with a friend before noticing police near the recreation ground, but he did not initially realise the gravity of the situation. Hours later, he received a call from a friend informing him that his daughter had been found dead.
“I rushed down there,” he said. “They had already put her body in the undertaker’s vehicle. I don’t want to point fingers, but after the autopsy, I will know.”
He expressed confusion over who could have harmed his daughter, noting ongoing disputes with people in the area.
“If they have something with me, come at me. Don’t come at my children,” he said.
Seenath said Mariah had wanted to stay with him, so he dropped the other children off at their mother’s home on Friday.
Mariah was not only a promising footballer but also academically excelling.
“She was a nice, loving, and caring girl,” her father said. “She won Sportswoman of the Year and played football for her school. She was about to be a school prefect.”
He recalled her helping her younger sisters with homework, household chores, and even home repairs. Seenath has one son, aged 17.
He admitted he never considered the track unsafe for his children.
“Sometimes 12 o’clock in the day. Sometimes seven o’clock at night. They walk freely. Nobody interferes with them. Everybody knows they are respectable children,” he said.
Mariah’s grandmother, Saranie Jaggan, 58, recalled their last conversation at around 7.10 am.
“I told her to go home, bathe, brush her teeth, and wash her uniform.”
She watched Mariah walk toward the track, unaware it would be the last time she would see her alive.
Her aunt, Nina Ramlochan, said Mariah would have turned 13 on November 1.
“She was a loving, hardworking child. Never disrespectful and known by everybody,” she said.
Resident Alexander Guerra described the community’s shock and grief, recalling how he used to drop Mariah to school when she was younger. He said she was quiet and often practiced football at the recreation field with other children.
San Fernando East Secondary also expressed condolences via Facebook, mourning the loss of “a bright spark, a resilient spirit, a beacon of hope.” They extended sympathies to her relatives, friends, classmates, football teammates, and teachers, noting that Mariah was well appreciated and loved.
The T&T Football Association also mourned, highlighting the tragic loss of her potential and dreams. They called her passing “a painful reminder of the urgent need for the nation to reject all forms of violence, especially against women and children,” and added, “No parent should ever have to bury their child. No young girl should face such horror. We must raise our voices, protect our young ones, and stand firmly against those who perpetuate violence.”
The autopsy will be conducted at the Forensic Science Centre in Port-of-Spain.
