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GUYANA CHRONICLE Saturday, August 13, 2016
Ann’s Grove girl was murdered …autopsy: hit to head, strangled, then dumped into Hope Canal BY Shauna Jemmott PATHOLOGIST Dr. Nehul Singh has conducted an autopsy on the body of the late 14-year-old Malika Hamilton and found she was brutally bludgeoned to her head, strangled, and dumped alive in the Hope Canal between Monday afternoon and Tuesday. The second year Hope Secondary School student died of ‘asphyxiation’, a condition of severe deficient supply of oxygen to the body as a result of abnormal breathing. An example of asphyxia is choking. The autopsy report also revealed that before Hamilton was thrown into the Hope Canal while still alive, she suffered ‘blunt trauma to head’ and ‘compression injury to neck’, her cousin Dr. Saska Sertima told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday. The ‘Miss African Calabash 2014’ beauty queen
had left her home at Lot 11 Two Friends Village, Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara late on Monday, but never returned. Her body was fished out of the Hope Canal the following day, where it was spotted by the canal’s ranger. Relatives of the dead teenager are calling for swift justice as police investigations continue. They said a man suspected to be part of the investigation has disappeared, and there is no photograph available to police. Hamilton’s mother, Atesha Cambridge, also said that her daughter’s body appeared ‘fresh’, as if she had just died at the time she was pulled from the canal. The family said they observed that Hamilton’s fingers were white and mud was on her skin, which indicated that she was not long thrown overboard. The family said one of the same men in whose company she was reportedly last seen was observed walking in the
direction of Hope when the teenager’s grandmother, Dorrel Cambridge, enquired of her whereabouts from him on the morning when the search for the missing girl began. “Dem seh she bin a bathe a trench, but me seh Malika doesn’t go and bathe a trench,” the woman told the press. Relatives and friends said the teenager did not know how to swim. “Me start ask people, and then me stop wan boy name Satan, and he seh ‘Malika and all ahwe bin a bathe a trench deh (not far from her home) and Malika lef and seh she ah go ah she grandmother’ (at Hope, two villages away). “Me seh ‘wait, Malika doesn’t lef so! How Malika go lef hey, pass we hey (her home)…. How she go bathe a ‘big bridge’ and pass hey wid she wet skin and go at she grandmother at Hope?” The Guyana Chronicle
‘Youths of today face more serious problems’ – Min Henry
Dead: Malika Hamilton
understands that the man had told another woman that Hamilton had left for Hope with his slippers, but relatives said no slippers were found near the teen’s body; and they have observed the man wearing the same slippers he said she had borrowed, even on the day she was discovered dead.
On Wednesday, however, the ranger who found the teen’s body the day before, also a boat operator, said he had traversed the canal several times, transporting workers on the infrastructural project, but did not notice her body earlier. It was not until he was making his third trip that he spotted something black in the canal. The man said because the canal is clean, he quickly observes anything strange in it. He later returned to the area after he was informed that Hamilton was missing, and after spinning the boat, the waves shifted the body, causing him to recognize her clothing. The ranger also said that on Monday he transported Malika and three men, including ‘Satan’, across the canal from Douch Four to Hope, at about 13:00h. That was the last reported time that Hamilton was seen alive. Her body was on Tuesday
pulled from the canal, around the ‘Skinny Dam’ bridge at ‘Star-apple Tree’ area, where men go to catch birds. Meanwhile, family members of the dead girl are upset that Lyken Funeral Home did not store her body properly, resulting in the body being bloated and starting to decay. Her mother said she is deeply hurt and has decided to bury her daughter this Sunday, as a result. “They didn’t put her properly! She start spoil. She cannot keep anymore long. Is best she go and bury early. They need to do their work and job more properly. It’s hard to open my child properly like that. I give them my child properly. When me child come out (the water) me child was fresh fresh,” the distraught woman told the Guyana Chronicle. Malika Hamilton, whose Facebook name is Iheart Malika, had, a few months ago, posted on her page, “If love only exist in my dreams, don’t wake me up!!!!!!”
Armed bandits storm Bharrat’s Jewellery BY Shauna Jemmott
Participants of the Youth Rally marching in celebration of International Youth Day
By Vishani Ragobeer GUYANA joined with the rest of the world on Friday to celebrate International Youth Day under the theme: “The Road to 2030: Eradicating Poverty and Achieving Sustainable Consumption and Production.” The Ministry of Education- Department of Culture, Youth and Sport held a daylong programme in observance of this day, including a Youth Rally, a Youth Village and a Youth Concert. The Youth Rally began from the Ministry of Education,Brickdam and featured personnel from the Ministry of Education and various youth organisations that fall under the ministry. Other participants included those who were a part in the Youth Village Exhibition and Youth Concert. The participants marched to the National Cultural Centre where there was
a brief opening ceremony followed by the Youth Village and Youth Concert. At the opening ceremony, Minister within the Ministry of Education with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport, Nicolette Henry, noted that the day focuses on the rights of young people to have full access to education, adequate health care, employment opportunities, financial services and full participation in public life. She said that the Government of Guyana has established partnerships with several stakeholders to address issues affecting youth. The minister also attested that many youths live in “abject poverty and cannot afford the basic necessities of life,”noting that “The youth of today face more serious problems than previous generations.” As such, she said it is important that all stakeholders have youth “integrally
involved in decisions” that would affect their future and their country. According to Minister Henry, her ministry recognises the importance of placing much effort in developing more strategies targeting youth development and realising their “hidden potential.” As a result, she said that her ministry, in partnership with numerous stakeholders, has planned activities to help the youth of Guyana realise this potential and contribute meaningfully to the Guyanese society. The Youth Village hosted yesterday is one such programme which showcased the interest of many organisations in youth and targeting employment especially. Also speaking at the opening ceremony were Director of Youth,Ms Melissa Carmichael and UNICEF representative, Ms. Marianne Flach.
ARMED bandits carted off $900,000 in cash and a quantity of jewellery as they robbed Bharrat’s Jewellery and Grocery Store at Robb Street and Orange Walk, Bourda, Georgetown, Friday morning. Police ‘A’ Division Commander Clifton Hicken told the Guyana Chronicle that around 09:30hrs , a 65-yearold woman was selling in the grocery department of the store when a man posing as a customer approached and ordered a gallon of water. When the woman opened the door at the counter to deliver the water, the man stormed into the inner part of the shop and armed with a gun, grabbed the items. As the Guyana Chronicle visited the scene Friday morning, the police were conducting investigations, but the media could not have accessed the victim. The owners of the store were contacted, but told the Guyana Chronicle that the female victim, who received minor head injuries during
Police investigators at the crime scene yesterday
the ordeal, had visited the doctor and was too traumatized to speak to the press. Sources around the area told this newspaper that the bandits dealt the woman a lash to her head, resulting in minor injuries. She was treat-
ed by a doctor and sent home. Commander Hicken told the Guyana Chronicle that the police are examining images on surveillance cameras in the area, to see if there would be a breakthrough in the crime.