Opposition wants independent investigation into brutal murder of Berbice teens

Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon is calling for an independent investigation into the brutal murder of West Berbice teens Isaiah and Joel Henry whose battered and mutilated bodies were discovered in Cotton Tree Sunday.

During a visit to the home of the victims on Monday, Harmon said: “We will have to insist that there be an independent investigation, independent forensic work that is done on this matter so that the evidence which is acquired, nobody can’t hide it and duck it.”

While he called on the Police to do a thorough investigation, he inferred that his party has little confidence in the Guyana Police Force.

The Opposition Leader told the teens’ family and residents of West Berbice that the People’s Progressive Party government has infiltrated the investigative arm of the force with “known thugs who’ve now gone into police investigation.”

As such, he called on residents to remain “very vigilant.”

“This response is a correct response, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” Harmon said in response to protests which broke out calling for justice for the teens.

Tree trunks, tyres and other discarded items are used to block the road as Police ranks stood on either side.

Harmon was accompanied by former President and leader of the APNU, David Granger.

Granger in his address called on residents to form a “self-defense society” to fight injustice.

The former President said: “What is clear now…is that whatever happens on this day, we have to establish some self-defense society to protect our children, protect our women and our young people because unless we protect ourselves, nobody is going to protect us.”

“We have to bind ourselves in some self-defense society to ensure young people of any race, young people are protected from this type of crime, they must be able to travel the road…must be able to go to the back dam and live ordinary lives,” he added.

Sixteen-year-old Isaiah and 18-year-old Joel Henry left their Number Three village homes on Saturday morning to pick coconuts in the backlands. On Sunday, their bodies were discovered with chops to their necks, heads, face and limbs; their bodies were discovered 600 ft apart.

The gruesome murders have shocked the nation and have resulted in condemnation from a wide cross section of society. Residents have been protesting since Sunday night.

Police have so far arrested a 57-year-old man who owns a nearby coconut farm and two others as investigation continues.