2 weeks ago
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- File photo POLICE are unsure if anyone will be charged in the death of pensioner Doodhani “Mary” Sooknanan, who neighbours believe was dead for weeks before her decomposing body was found in her Edinburgh 500 home on Thursday. At the time, two female relatives were in the house.
Neighbours said they last saw Sooknanan alive a few days before Christmas Day when she was seen carrying a bag of garbage to a bin on the street corner.
A resident said the 74-year-old woman fell and hit her head while walking to the bin, and initially refused anyone’s help.
However, a young man in the neighbourhood convinced her to let him help her up and he carried her back into her home. That was the last time anyone saw her alive.
Her remains were found by police in her bedroom after they arrived to carry out a welfare check.
Police reports are that around 1 pm on January 8, officers from the Chaguanas Criminal Investigations Department (CID) received a call from someone expressing concern about her well-being.
When they arrived at the two-storey town house, a woman, dressed in a white gown with a yellow head covering told police she had not seen Sooknanan.
Concerned about the individual's mental state, the officers requested help and members of the Central Division Task Force arrived, broke down the back door and entered the house.
Police sources said the house appeared to be in a decrepit state and on searching one of the bedrooms upstairs, officers found Sooknanan’s remains.
The decomposing body was clad only in a blouse and was found lying partially under the bed, but bore no visible signs of violence.
A teenage relative, who police believe may be autistic, was also found in another room upstairs.
The district medical officer visited the scene, viewed the body and ordered it removed and for an autopsy to be done.
A source at the Forensic Science Centre in St James said the autopsy is due to be done on January 11.
None of the people who were at home at the time were arrested and it remains unclear what course the investigation will take.
A police source told Newsday, “While keeping a dead body is an offence and you can be charged, in this situation an autopsy is needed and, based on what the officers encountered, a mental assessment may have to be done as well.”
STRANGER THINGSWhen Newsday visited the house on January 9, the doors and windows were locked with gold-coloured curtains drawn. Neighbours insisted, though, that relatives were at home.
While speaking with neighbours, a curtain near an upstairs window kept moving ever so slightly, but not enough to determine whether anyone was at home.
However, as reporters approached the house and called out, the curtain upstairs moved to reveal a young woman dressed exactly how police said the occupants in the house were dressed when Sooknanan's body was discovered – a white gown with yellow accessories and a yellow head tie.
Moments later, another woman dressed in similar garb and with what appeared to be white make-up on her face appeared suddenly at the window on the ground floor, causing reporters to stop in their tracks.
When told that reporters wanted to speak with her about Sooknanan’s death, the woman's lips turned up slowly in an eerie smile, as she shook her head. She then waved as if to shoo everyone away before disappearing behind the curtains.
Newsday noted that a hand-written sign which social media images showed was placed in front of the house on Thursday – the day that Sooknanan's body was found – was no longer there. That sign read. “Gods and Goddess Mira full legal owners of planet Earth.”
Neighbours described “stranger things” occurring at the house but people did not meddle as the occupants allegedly did not get along with others.
“They don’t really talk to people around here. They come out maybe once a week to go to the grocery.”
Residents said they had detected a foul smell in the community over the past few weeks.
“Since Christmas we were getting a funny scent coming through the air-conditioning but we didn’t take it on.
“The smell kept coming and going and I told my spouse to take off the AC because something isn’t right with it,” said a resident.
Noting previous verbal disagreements with Sooknanan’s relatives, a resident, who spoke with Newsday on the condition of anonymity, suggested although Sooknanan had not been seen since Christmas, they did not want to risk a confrontation by visiting the house to check on her.
Asked if they were concerned about their safety and how they felt about no one being arrested, residents said they do not intend to leave their homes or the neighbourhood.
A defiant resident added she had been living in the community for two decades and does not plan on letting this situation scare her away from her home. “No, I’m not scared, because I don’t deal up with them.”
Investigations are continuing.
English (US) ·