Jensen La Vende
Senior Reporter
jesen.lavende@guardian.co.tt
Nearly a month after the country was gripped by the discovery of skeletal remains at a house in Valsayn, police are still awaiting one piece of evidence that may bring the matter to a close.
Homicide officials are yet to receive the results of DNA tests done to confirm whether the remains found on March 12 are those of Hannah Mathura.
The results, Homicide detectives reiterated yesterday, may cause them to re-arrest an elderly couple in connection with the discovery.
The couple face charges ranging from improperly disposing of a body to murder.
The couple, a 66-year-old man and a 62-year-old woman, were arrested on March 13, a day after the body was unearthed from the backyard of their Butu Street, Valsayn home.
They were released on March 19, after the Director of Public Prosecutions advised the police to strengthen their case.
Police have been waiting for the results of DNA tests since then.
Mathura, believed to be 17, was reportedly last seen alive in 2017. She was never reported missing. An autopsy done on the remains initially found that the person was shot twice in the head.
There has been little to no information on the life of Hannah, as relatives have been quiet about who she was and neighbours also knew little of her, as the family was said to have kept to themselves. Members of the Our Lady of Fatima RC Church in Curepe told the media that Hannah and her siblings were kept away from other children. This was confirmed by neighbours, who said the parents, to ensure that the children focused on school work, did not allow them to socialise with neighbours.
Attorney Sanjiv Boodhu, who is representing the interest of Hannah’s siblings, told the media on March 15 that they were traumatised by the situation.