Body of elderly woman recovered in ‘backtrack’ route tragedy

The body of 77-year-old Baboni Harihar known as ‘Doris’, of Percy Smith Street, Palmyra (East Berbice-Corentyne) was discovered on the Number 69 Village foreshore on Wednesday.

The discovery was made around 08:25h by a fisherman who was setting his seine in the vicinity when he noticed a handbag on the beach; upon further investigation, he found the body of the elderly woman among mangrove roots on the foreshore.

The fisherman quickly ran from the area and made contact with the police; the body was escorted to the Anthony’s Funeral Parlour where Nadira Valdez, positively identified the remains as that of her beloved grandmother.

Harihar’s remains were found mere two hours after Alwin Joseph was discovered in the vicinity of Number 60 foreshore (East Berbice-Corentyne). Still missing is 48-year-old Sharida Hussein.

The trio was on their way back to Guyana from Suriname via the backtrack route in a speed boat when they informed relatives that they were dropped off in waist-deep water on the sandbank in the dark on Tuesday night.

Hussein’s family has not given up the search for her; a team earlier departed for Skeldon to continue searching.

Guyana’s borders with Suriname has been closed since March 2020 in an effort to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus. As a result, many persons have been using the backtrack route to conduct business.