Radhica Sookraj | 9:10 pm
Published: March 17th, 2009
For 27 years, Churaman Ramsaroop showed no signs of being a violent person. But on Monday afternoon, Ramsaroop chopped 14-year-old Zoreen Ansara Mohammed to death, after tying her up with shoe laces, slicing her with a knife and bludgeoning her with a blunt object on the head. He then committed suicide.
The murder/suicide took place off Bancroft Trace, Freeport, on a deserted track about four miles from Ramsaroop’s home in Arena Village. Late yesterday, both Ramsaroop’s and Mohammed’s relatives were trying to find out what had caused the murder/suicide. Mohammed’s uncle Fazeed Ali said his niece and Ramsaroop were not in any relationship. He said Ramsaroop worked as a PH driver and used to pick up Mohammed and four other students daily to take them to the Carapichaima West Secondary School.
Ali said he and the girl’s mother, Zorida, escorted Mohammed into Ramsaroop’s car around 6.30 am on Monday. He said: “We never knew this would happen. Every day he takes her to school. He was a well-known person and a good person. He used to pick up a trip every day. He and my niece were not in any relationship.” He said when Mohammed failed to return home on Monday, they began looking for her. They went to Ramsaroop’s home, and his mother Rajpati said she did not know Ramsaroop’s whereabouts. His car was parked outside the house.Ramsaroop’s brother Khemraj said he started a search, and around 5 pm he saw Ramsaroop’s wheel tractor parked close to a forested area.
“When I checked, I saw him lying right there on the ground with a bottle of Lanate next to him...It looked like he killed himself,” Khemraj said.
Police said they believed that after killing Mohammed, Ramsaroop went home and parked his car. Bloodstains and a knife were found in the vehicle.
He then took his tractor and drove to a forested area where he drank the poison, poice said. About 16 hours later, Dipnarine Ramsaroop found Mohammed’s body several miles away. Mohammed’s left leg was broken and her feet were tied with shoe laces. Her hands were also bound with strips of cloth. Her head was bashed in and there were slashes on her face. The girl’s parents, Zorida and Shaban Mohammed, wept uncontrollably for their only child