In 2011, 46-year-old Basmattie Anantram went missing from her Seawell, Corentyne, Berbice home. At the time of her disappearance, she and her overseas-based Guyanese husband were going through a domestic dispute.
A few weeks after her disappearance, a body—suspected to be hers—was found on the seawall, a short distance from her home. DNA samples were taken from her relatives but the result was never returned. Eight years later, her relatives are renewing their call for answers. They are insisting on getting the result.
The Guyana Standard has been informed that the officer who was assigned to the case has retired and as such, the ranks who are at the station cannot locate the file with the result.
Furthermore, the body that was found has since been buried by police ranks but no one can remember the exact location since a lot of unidentified remains were buried during the eight-year period.
Babita Thakoor, the sister of Basmattie Anantram seemed convinced that the body found back in 2011 is that of her sibling. She suspected that it was her sister’s husband who killed and then dumped her body on the seawall.
Thakoor claimed that the deceased’s spouse who was living in the United States of America heard that she was having an affair here. He came and the duo had an argument which caused Anantram to move from her marital home.
After some convincing, the deceased moved back home with her husband. Thakoor said that neighbours confirmed seeing Basmattie Anantram entering her home with her partner on June 08, 2011- the last time she was seen or heard from.
“The neighbours say when they see her going into the yard, they never see her back. They said the next morning, they see he (her partner) on the verandah and two days later, he left with his suitcases to go back to New York.”
“When the body was found, I went there and I know it was her because she had two missing jaw teeth and the body also had two missing teeth. My sister also had a gold tooth but on the body, the gold teeth came out and the tooth was dark,” the woman alleged.
According to Thakoor, when the police failed to contact her almost a year after the body was found, she visited the police station and was told that the DNA result was not available.”
She eventually got frustrated and stopped going to the police.
The deceased’s relatives are hoping that the Guyana Police Force can locate the remains of Anantram.
