We want justiceBy NALINEE SEELAL Tuesday, January 6 2009
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SCHOOLGIRL Devika Lalman planned to celebrate her sweet sixteen birthday this Saturday. Yesterday, grieving relatives were busy planning her funeral.
Devika, a form three student of Cunupia High School went missing on December 29 after boarding a taxi at Price Plaza in Endeavour to take her to Chaguanas.
When she failed to return home and calls to her cellphone went unanswered, her relatives called the Caroni police and made a report.
Devika’s weeping sisters Roshni and Reshma yesterday said they begged police to search for her but they claimed the police did nothing. At midday on Sunday, a homeless man saw Devika’s body in a rice field and alerted villagers at Warren Road in Bejucal who in turn telephoned the Caroni police.
Through their tears, the sisters demanded justice and said they would pray to the Hindu Goddess Ma Kali for justice. “Whoever did this, will pay,” Roshni vowed as she and Reshma walked to their car after positively identifying their sister’s body.
The sisters said Devika was accustomed going to Chaguanas to purchase school items. She left her Las Lomas Number One home to go to Chaguanas and then went to Price Plaza. This was the last time that she was seen alive. “We begged police to assist in finding Devika, but they did nothing, as far as we are concerned,” Roshni said. “When we received information on Sunday that the body of a young woman was found in a rice field in Bejucal, we were still hoping it was not Devika and that she was still alive,” she added.
She said police never asked them to view the body at the crime scene and instead asked them to go to the Forensic Science Centre. Yesterday, investigators told Newsday it is possible Devika was killed by someone whom she knew. No arrests have been made and investigations are continuing.
