| Expressing concern at the recent release of convicted child killer, Ravindra Deo, the Guyana Coalition for Children, (GCC), has said that it is saddened and appalled to learn of former President Donald Ramotar’s pardoning of the convict.Eight year-old Vishnu Bhim, the only child for his parents was brutally murdered in November, 1994.Deo had abducted, abused and murdered eight-year-old Vishnu Bhim, the only child of his parents from the Annandale Community, East Coast Demerara, on November 29, 1994.Last Saturday, he walked out of the Georgetown Prisons, courtesy of a Presidential pardon from the outgoing, Head of State. But the news that Deo has been freed has left the child’s parents, who migrated to the United States shortly after the killing, in shock and disbelief.The new development has forced the family to mull any legal options available to them that can be taken to reverse the former President’s decision.Deo was sentenced to be hanged but an ex-parte injunction was filed to prevent his execution.In a release issued yesterday, the GCC stressed that “Deo already had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment but today,China Jerseys Cheap, he is free to live how he wishes.”The GCC further outlined that “on the other hand, innocent eight-year-old Vishnu is dead; his parents and family will never see his potential realized, and our society has been robbed of his contribution.”Noting that too many adults in our society have contributed to the abuse of children and or stood by silently while children are abused and violated, most often by someone they know and love, the GCC reiterated that all forms of child abuse can be prevented.“The abuse of children must not be tolerated, and abusers of children must receive the full penalties the law attaches to this heinous crime.”‘The Guyana Coalition for Children therefore, calls on our new government to place children’s issues at the heart of developing Guyana and to address this injustice without any delay.’Deo, 39, was just 19 years old, when he kidnapped and killed the young child, who was making his way home from school at Annandale, East Coast Demerara.The killer had reportedly demanded a $1M ransom.Prior to the kidnapping, the suspect had allegedly gone to the child’s home and had asked the victim’s father, Heeralall Bhim, for a job in his carpentry shop.He was arrested a few days later in America Street, and on December 1, 1994, he led detectives and villagers to La Bonne Intention, backdam, where they found the eight-year-old boy’s bound, gagged and battered body.He had initially claimed that an individual named ‘Kresho’ of Mahaicony, had assisted in the kidnapping.Police searched the Mahaicony area for ‘Kresho’ but never found him. |
