For most children, collecting SEA results yesterday is a time for celebration, relief and happiness.
But for 12-year-old Janelle Hosein, it was a time of deep despair and sadness.
This is because Janelle did not have her parents Isha and Majeed Hosein to celebrate her success with her. Isha was clobbered on her head with a piece of iron and then stabbed to death on May 10, in front of Janelle's nine-year-old sister Shenelle. Their father, Majeed, 41, has been charged with that murder. In an interview yesterday, Janelle said she missed her mother. She did not speak of her father. The young girl said she went to school alone yesterday and collected her SEA results.
She passed for the Point Fortin West Secondary School. Asked whether she was happy for the results, Janelle whispered: "I don't know." She said her first choice was Asja Girls' College. Janelle said she worked with her mother prior to the murder to prepare for SEA. However, with an absentee father, life was tough. At times, she had to study by candlelight in a house devoid of furniture because everything had been sold or broken in fits of rage. Janelle said she did not know whether she was looking forward to attend a new school. She said she missed her mother everyday.
Meanwhile, her aunt, Anita Naranjit, said it was tough taking care of the traumatised child. She said: "It's very sad for Janelle today because collecting SEA results was a joy for them and their mother." She said Isha stayed with Janelle when she wrote her exams and encouraged her along the way. She said since the murder both Janelle and Shenelle have been withdrawn and unhappy. She added: "They don't speak much. At night Shenelle wakes up and cries. They both insist they sleep with their grandmother in her bed. "They don't want to talk about things. They have developed a dislike for their father." She explained that both girls needed to express their grief and more time to heal.
