Fighting for land and material things in this life clearly shows that adults and society have failed because there is no good example in that for the children.
Those were the words coming from the officiating Pundit Rishi Ojar at the double funeral for murdered father and daughter—62-year-old Elliot Veerasammy and his daughter, Sarah, 32. They were killed on Wednesday night in the living room of their home.
The funeral took place under Hindu rites at their home at William Street in El Socorro.
It was initially reported that Veerasammy and his daughter’s killing were linked to a land dispute. However, in a second theory, investigators said the alibi of a land dispute may have very well been the perfect excuse for the killer or killers.
Homicide investigators have information which suggests that their murders may have been linked to an incident where Sarah was gang raped over a decade ago. The matter was due to be heard this week in the High Court where the suspects are expected to undergo cross examination.
Ojar told mourners that people get so caught up in the material world and think it’s life but he added that what people must hold on to is “faith, love and devotion...this land is not mine, yours and not the Government but God’s.”
“Why do we fight ourselves in this life, fight each other for a piece of land, for a piece of dust? Everything is staying right here in this world. You must ask yourselves. You ever see anyone take a piece of land with them? They fighting their father, their mother, their sister, and their whole entire relations for a piece of land. When you die you are going in the box with nothing,” Ojar said.
“Nothing in life is yours. My dear friends, everything is for God...So they would fight for wealth, they would fight for land and then they would fight for woman...and these three things serve no purpose to life.
“Our main purpose in life is to live among each other as one, and stop fighting among each other,” he added.
The Hindu priest urged the gathering to forget about creed and race and also, to forget about religion, “Forget about colour, whether you black, yellow or white, whatever you may be my dear friends. In God’s eyes there is no colour or religion. It’s all just one. It is we who create this own war among ourselves my dear friends.”
Sarah was described as a “loving, kind and caring person.” Her mother died of cancer 11 years ago.
Veerasammy was an A-class welder and a wire bender. He used to do wirebending for several popular Carnival bandleaders and others in the artform.
Stanton Kewly of 3 Canal, who attended the funeral strongly condemned illegal guns on the streets and said he believes that not enough is being done to get them “the illegal guns) off the streets. Kewly said he was the last one to see Veerasammy alive as he was currently working with them on a new project.
An autopsy report revealed that Sarah was shot once to the head while her father was shot multiple times also to the head and upper body. The autopsies were conducted at the Forensic Sciences Centre in St James.