Meena Bhim felt blood dripping on her from the floorboards above her head and when she investigated upstairs she made a ghastly discovery.
Her brother Besham Bhim, 33, of Churkoo Village, Manahambre Road was lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen. He was barely breathing with a gaping stab wound to the right side of his neck. The envelope with his salary, collected hours earlier lay empty on the floor next to him.
For hours Meena tried to get the police and an ambulance to take her brother to the hospital but when they arrived two hours later, Besha was already dead.
During an interview yesterday, another sister, Reena Ramcharan, said she was convinced that her brother would have survived if the ambulance had responded on time. Ramcharan said she was at home around 8:30 am when her sister Meena called her frantically saying someone had stabbed Besham.
Ramcharan said when they arrived, Besham was lying on his side of the floor. Blood oozed from his neck and he was not conscious.
“I could see him breathing. The paramedics told us do not move him. The blood was leaking through the floor. We flagged down a passing police car and for one and a half hours, the officer tried to get someone to take Besham to the hospital. Two hours passed and they could not find an ambulance. When the police finally came they said he was dead,” Ramcharan recalled.
She said Besham worked at the Carousel Gas Station in Cocoyea as a gas station attendant. His nephew relieved him at work around 5.45 am and he returned home to rest.
Police believe Besham may have opened the door for his attacker as there was no sign of forced entry. There was no sign of a scuffle although his salary was missing along with some monies he collected after selling avocados.
Ramcharan said Besham was a hardworking brother who lived alone upstairs while his elder sister Meena lived downstairs. She said he was never involved in criminal activity and had a few friends who sometimes came to his home.
Saying she had no idea who stabbed her brother, Ramcharan said the murder was horrifying and sad. She called for an investigation into the delays with the ambulance.
Meanwhile, councillor for Corinth/Cedar Hill Shawn Premchand said this was not the first murder to hit the area.
He said he grew up with Bhim and never knew him to engage in anything unlawful. Premchand said the Usine Ste Madeliene pond was being used by miscreants.
“We have pleaded with the authorities to set up a camera system in this area because of crime. Once again crime has hit home. We do not have a proper ambulance system and even the police took a long while to respond to this murder. We are calling on the government to put systems in place to take charge of spiralling crime,” he added.
Police say they are yet to establish a motive for the murder. Bhim had some money in his pants pocket.
