A 22-year-old man who was accused of beating his grandmother to death was found hanging in his cell at the Eastern Correctional Rehabilitation Centre (ECRC) in Arima on Thursday.
Jaden Dirpaul was charged with his grandmother’s murder after she passed away at the hospital just over a month ago and he was remanded into custody to await his day in court.
However, around 7.30 am on Thursday a prison officer saw Dirpaul in a sitting position on the floor of the 15 foot by 15 cell with a black garbage bag tied around his neck and attached to a bunk bed.
He was not wearing any clothes.
The prison officer told the investigating team, including WPC Mendoza, that he last saw Dirpaul alive in the cell about two hours earlier.
Dirpaul’s grandmother, June Dirpaul, 75, a pensioner, was badly beaten in her Couva home on December 3, 2021.
A relative told police that around 10.45 am, she heard loud screams and saw Dirpaul running from the home where he resided with his grandmother at Nanan Trace, Preysal Village.
The relative went to check on the elderly woman and found her unconscious on the ground, covered in blood.
The grandmother was taken to the Couva Health Facility where she was treated and transferred to the San Fernando General Hospital where she died seven days later.
The elderly woman suffered traumatic brain injuries, including a depressed skull fracture and lacerations to the left side of the head. Dirpaul was arrested and charged with her murder.
An autopsy is expected to be done on Dirpaul’s body, pending a COVID-19 test at the Forensic Science Centre.
WPC Mendoza is investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.
