By STACY MOORE Monday, October 1 2012

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DEAD: ROSHAN WENDELL RAMRATTAN....

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IT was not the first time neighbours heard the screams of one-year old Roshan Wendell Ramrattan.

The infant’s screams while being beaten by a close relative would be heard by all those who lived close to the family’s home at School Road, Bonne Aventure, Gasparillo.

Friday night was no different. They heard the child’s screams but little did they know it would be the last time they heard him.

The infant died at the San Fernando General Hospital on Saturday night.

Police said there were visible marks of violence on the infant’s body and suspect he died as a result of the beating he received the night before.

Neighbours who last saw the infant alive on Friday said the left and right side of his face were swollen. There were also red marks on his chest and blue and black marks on his lower back.

The infant would have celebrated his second birthday today. He lived in a small galvanise structure with his parents Kenrick and Reshi Ramrattan.

He was an only child.

Police said at about 5.30 pm, the infant was taken to the hospital in an unconscious state.

They said the infant’s 19 year-old female relative told medical staff the child fell.

The baby died at about 10.30 pm at the institution.

Neighbours said they would often hear the infant’s screams, but when they saw his bruised body on Friday, they called the police.

“We use to hear the baby bawling,” said Shaffi Ramotoola, 47 who lived nearby.

Ramotoola told Newsday on Friday evening he heard the baby crying and screaming. “Something was not right, because the baby was bawling like he was in a lot of pain,” he said, also relating some of what he heard being told to the child.

A short while later, Ramotoola said he saw the baby walking in the yard, bareback in pampers.

“His back was blue black,” he said. Ramotoola said he was told the child fell.

“I could not leave it so,” he said.

He immediately contacted the police. Two officers of the Gasparillo Station visited the home, looked at the child and left.

“Two police officers came in the night and they looked at the child and said he was okay. But I don’t think they saw the bruises on his body. If they had looked at him in the light they would have seen those marks and they would have taken that child away,” Ramotoola said.

He said after the police left, the child was taken from the home by his close relative and they were not seen on Saturday by neighbours.

Ramnarine Ramjit, the taxi driver who took the baby and his relative to Happy Hill, Claxton Bay, confirmed they were his passengers.

“She said she was going by a friend. I give her the drop as I was on my way to work,” he said.

Ramjit said he would frequently see the infant and his mother going to the nearby shop and was shocked when he heard that the baby had died.

“When I heard what happened and that the child was dead, I could not believe it. I did not want to believe it. It is just so sad,” Ramjit said.

The infant’s aunt Sheerena Mohammed said he was a jolly, playful boy. “He was such a joy, always smiling. I still cannot believe it,” Mohammed said.

“This is the first time marks showed up on the baby’s body. It is heart breaking for everyone in this village,” she wept.

Up to late yesterday, police had a 19-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man in custody.

An autopsy on the infant’s body is expected to be performed today.

Investigations are continuing.