Sascha Wilson
Relief quickly turned into despair for the family of Rishi Khemchan after they retrieved his body from Venezuela and returned to Chaguaramas on Friday.
"We reach back at 1 pm and is like a death just happen. The DMO (District Medical Officer) come and the CSI (Crime Scene Investigators) were there, putting up yellow markers," said Khemchan's brother Ravi during a telephone interview yesterday.
He said the Venezuelan authorities gave him photocopies of documents, including the death certificate, which listed the cause of death as trauma to the head with a blunt object. However, Ravi said the police took custody of his brother's body and have instructed that an autopsy be done at the Forensic Science Centre next week.
Khemchan, 38, Heeralal “Linus” Cooblal, 54, of Grand Lagoon, Mayaro, Andy “Tallman” George, 40, and George Joti left Guayaguayare on January 31 for a five-day fishing trip off Trinidad’s South Coast. Their boat was found overturned in a Heritage Petroleum Company offshore field off Cedros on February 5, the day after their scheduled return.
On February 10, fishermen found Khemchan’s body tangled in the mangroves off Cocuina, Venezuela. The Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs and the Venezuelan authorities communicated and arranged for the return of the body to Trinidad, so his family could have a funeral. Ravi explained that on Friday around 6 am he and two other family members left from Chaguaramas aboard the Coast Guard vessel to retrieve his brother's body. "We did not cross the border. We meet the Venezuelan officials in a boat around 10 am, and they hand over my brother's body that was in a box (coffin)."
He said the documents, including the death certificate, were in Spanish, but he translated it. "We were thinking that everything going to be alright now, when we reach back the body going to a funeral home, and then we could plan his funeral," he said. However, he said the police told them "it was a police matter," and Khemchan's body was taken to the Boodoo Funeral Home in Rio Claro to await the autopsy.
Lamenting that his family has suffered enough, he said, "It is a real hard thing to face. Instead of moving forward, we're going backwards. We don't want to go through this thing again. Today is 40 days and he not buried yet." He said Khemchan was a mechanic and the eldest among six siblings. Relatives will be going to the Forensic Science Centre tomorrow.