Senior Reporter
Ten weeks after budding footballer Mariah Seenath was found dead near the Friendship Village Recreation Ground, her relatives say they are no closer to justice.
With no arrests made and no public updates from investigators, the family of the San Fernando East Secondary School student has begun to question whether justice will ever be served.
A relative told Guardian Media that there is evidence suggesting someone was involved in Seenath’s death, but said investigators advised it was insufficient to advance the probe.
On September 21, Seenath left her grandmother’s home in Friendship Village, San Fernando, around 7 am to walk home. She never arrived. Her body was discovered later that day near the ground. An autopsy later confirmed that Seenath died from blunt force trauma to the head.
The relative, who asked not to be identified, described the police service and the justice system as a partial failure, arguing that in many instances they have let down families seeking justice or some form of relief.
“No one should be expected to wait years for justice or some sort of relief, especially for the family of Mariah, who was brutally killed.
“Mariah was just a child, a daughter. Whoever took her life had no right to. Crime in this country falls under the Government and the TTPS, yet it is controlled by a minority group.”
The relative claimed that authorities decide who receives justice and who does not, citing the case of Olive Green-Jack, who was detained under a Government order after posting a photograph of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s private residence on social media and urging the Venezuelan Government to target it.
“In a matter of time, they found the person. And the CPO received threats, and in a matter of days, the suspect was held. That alone shows how the system works. So what happened to the Seenath family and Mariah’s case, and all the other children who were killed? Because we do not fall under the one per cent bracket, that should not mean we cannot get justice too. Should we call in our own investigators? Shall we get help from another justice department? Because our own country has failed us and every parent whose child or baby was killed and is waiting for justice.”
As relatives continue to wait for an update, they questioned whether the investigation had already gone cold, as they say has happened in other cases where families remain in limbo.
They accused some police officers of neglecting their duties, contributing to delays in justice.
However, when contacted on Tuesday, a senior homicide investigator said detectives are actively pursuing the case and are awaiting further information from the Forensic Science Centre.
The investigator said that following Seenath’s autopsy in September, the pathologist made specific observations and requested additional blood work.
The Homicide Bureau of Investigations is now awaiting the completion of an extensive forensic analysis of her blood.
