“They murdered my child and covered it up!”
Those were the last words grieving father Suresh Rampersad uttered moments before the casket bearing his 12-day-old son’s body was closed for the last time at Guide’s Funeral Home, San Fernando, yesterday.
His wife, Shariffa Ali, said nothing, seemingly unable to speak as she clung to his clothes and wept uncontrollably.
Rampersad, 37, and Ali, 34, laid their son, Sajjid, to rest yesterday in a small service at the Coffee Street funeral home. During the service, they sat mere inches away from the tiny white casket bearing Sajjid’s body, with Ali keeping her eyes fixed on the child the entire time. She cried silently most of the time, only bursting into loud sobs when she was told it was time to cremate the body.
Rampersad, however, then picked up the casket, cradled it against his chest and carried it to the cremation chamber for the final process to be completed.
Moments before the casket was closed, he looked around at those gathered and said loudly, “They murdered my child and covered it up!” He seemed unable to say anything else thereafter and was held up by relatives as he broke down and cried. Pastor Raj Badal, of Abundant Life Tabernacle, officiated during the service, telling the family that death comes to both young and old, and assuring them they would see their son again in the afterlife. Pundit Deochan Maharaj led the family in prayer before the cremation.
When Maharaj invited mourners to place flowers in the coffin, Ali and Rampersad both placed small white teddies next to Sajjid’s small body, which was clad in traditional Indian garb.
Trouble after birth
Ali made headlines on Tuesday when she accused doctors and nurses attached to the San Fernando General Hospital’s (SFGH) maternity ward of causing the death of her son. Ali said after three days of induced labour, doctors and nurses refused to heed her cries that something was wrong with her baby. She eventually gave birth to Sajjid on April 15, but said he was whisked away soon after by doctors. The next time she saw him, his tiny body was stuck all over with needles and protuding tubes and he was in an incubator. Doctors initially told her he was in a critical condition and she later found out he had suffered brain damage.
An autopsy performed on Wednesday found that he had suffered from hydrocephalus, a condition where a large amount of fluid gathers in the brain. Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan apologised to the couple for their loss at a press conference on Wednesday, but told the nation Sajjid would not have survived long with that condition. Ali also revealed that two years ago, she suffered a miscarriage seven months into her pregnancy and claimed her condition was misdiagnosed by doctors at San Fernando General Hospital.
MD defends Khan
In a statement released to the media yesterday, medical director of the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) Dr Anand Chatoorgoon strongly denied the statements of former head of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, Dr Jehan Ali.
Ali had accused Khan of covering up the cause of death of baby Sajjid by lying about the results of the autopsy.
In the release, Chatoorgoon said both Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dr Krishna Rampersadsingh and consultant neonatologist Dr Barry O’ Donoghue witnessed the autopsy, which was done by consultant pathologist Professor Hubert Daisley.
Chatoorgoon said there was absolutely no doubt whatsoever in the mind of Daisley that the infant did have congenital hydrocephalus.
He added that Ali was no longer employed with the SWRHA and as such was not privy to all the facts surrounding any case at the SFGH.