BOY, 12, HANGS HIMSELFFriday, January 27 2012
MINUTES after being beaten with a belt by his 57-year-old grandmother, a Standard Five student of St Joseph’s Government Primary School hanged himself using an electrical cord at his home in Arouca on Wednesday afternoon.
The boy, Everton Vasquez did not display any suicidal tendencies prior to his death, but relatives believe he may have been harbouring feelings of anger and disappointment which led to his demise.
According to police reports, Vasquez was found hanging from a rafter in the garage of his home at Bertie Road, Five Rivers, Arouca at about 4.15 pm on Wednesday. Vasquez was found by his grandmother Grace Ramnath, 57, of the same address — less than half-an-hour after she admitted to “belting him for not listening.” Reports indicate that the boy did not get a Christmas present, neither a gift for his birthday last week and was upset about it.
When Newsday visited the house yesterday, Ramnath, a grandmother of eight was attending to household chores while other relatives sat around, seemingly in shock over Everton’s sudden death.
Clutching laundry in her hands as she pointed to the spot where Everton was found hanging, Ramnath spoke of her last encounter with her grandson.
Ramnath said she was asleep on Wednesday at about 3.30 pm, when her two-year-old grand-daughter woke her up and pointed to her head indicating that she had been hit by another relative.
Admitting that she went outside and disciplined her seven-year-old grand-daughter along with Everton, Ramnath said: “I told Everton to put away the bike and that his uncle would repair it when he came from work. I told him to go and bathe and do some work but he kept telling me hit him, hit him.”
Ramnath admitted that after Everton challenged her, she “hit him a few belts” before she went back inside. Ramnath said Everton’s mother Veronica John, 27, was a single parent who was working and studying in order to provide for Everton and improve herself.
Asked if Everton ever displayed any suicidal tendencies or attempted suicide before, Ramnath said “no” but explained that after Everton received an “F” grade in class last term, “his mother did not buy any Christmas presents for him and although he turned 12 last week Thursday and had asked for a transformer toy, she did not buy it yet because she did not have any money,” Ramnath said. She told Newsday she believes all of these incidents may “have added up” and led to Everton taking his life.
Sitting in the exact spot where Everton was found, Ramnath said she was only alerted about the hanging after two children “passing in the road called out to her and asked if it was true that he (Everton) hanged himself.”
Rushing outside with a kitchen knife, Ramnath said: “I cut him down and put him to lie in the shed. I shook him a couple of times and slapped his face but he did not respond. I tried to put some water in his mouth to see if he was breathing but nothing.”
Calling for help, Ramnath said her daughter Jessica performed CPR until the arrival of the Emergency Health Services but he never recovered. Although John was not at home yesterday when Newsday visited, Ramnath stressed that she had not done anything to kill anyone’s child.
Revealing that John was proud of Everton who had been described as bright and talented, Ramnath and other relatives said Everton was “full of rage and anger at times.”
Relatives said Everton had hopes of becoming a police officer but the family wanted him to become a doctor.
Shaking her head in disbelief, Ramnath said: “The child looked so normal when I find him, like nothing was wrong with him. His eyes were normal and there was no froth at the mouth. It was just like he wanted to go.” An autopsy is expected to be performed today at the Forensic Science Centre, St James.
