Twenty-eight-year-old Rashme Deoajit was considered a cricket star within her rural community, with a bright future ahead of her.
Described as generous and kind, relatives said she helped those around her and even opened her home to assist others. But her life was brutally cut short when she was attacked in her home on Monday night.
Her body was only discovered the following day. Relatives believe the man who killed her was someone she had tried to help — someone they had considered a friend.
Deoajit had been drinking alcohol and liming with the man, along with her father and brother, on Monday at her home at Tat Trace, Grandville, Cedros. She and the man later went to another nearby home, where they continued liming. Relatives said she also had $5,000 in cash, which she was going to use to repair her car, as it is in an auto garage.
Police were told that around 8 pm, Deoajit and the man got into an altercation. That was the last time either of them was seen.
Her father, Sookraj Deoajit, 57, who lives a few feet away, said he found it unusual that he did not see his only daughter when he awoke on Tuesday morning, as she would normally check on him and bring him coffee. He called several people looking for her, but no one had seen her. That same day, he said, an ambulance took his brother to the hospital after he fell ill.
“I sit down right there, me eh know my daughter dead. I sit down right by the wall there. This time the girl dead, you know,” he lamented.
Later that day, around 6.30 pm, while he was in the yard with his son, they heard her phone ringing repeatedly inside her home. The front door was locked, so his son climbed through a window to answer the phone. Seconds later, his son called out to him. When he entered the house, he saw his daughter’s body.
As he broke down in tears, Sookraj recalled that her foot was cold and her body was soaked in blood. He said the entire village has been plunged into mourning over her death, as she was considered a bright light by those around her. He believes that had his daughter been sober, she might have been able to fight off her attacker.
“My daughter strong, stronger than me. She is taking up a bag of rice and throw on her shoulder and she laughing too. For that to happen, I feel the alcohol and the fella had the knife, and he make one pull with the knife to put she down.”
Sookraj said he never believed the man would have harmed his daughter.
“He real cool but is pure hate and acting normal.” Deoajit’s mother, Savita, who lives in Couva, said she is now hoping for justice. “It was terrible. I wish they find the person who did it.”
Sookraj believes the only way to curb murders is to resume hangings.
“If they start to hang people crime will stop...If they don’t do that it will continue,” he warned.
Deoajit who was fondly called Pumpkin by her family, worked as a sales merchandiser but also did part-time jobs, including fishing and crab catching, to earn extra income. However, her father said cricket was her true passion. She won several trophies over the years and had plans to play in an upcoming match in Barbados. Several people who knew her expressed shock and sadness over her death on social media, including Bryan Priya Singh, who called for justice.
“This breaks my heart into a thousand pieces. Sleep in pace sister. Oh gosh why. All we ask is for justice. Don’t let this man walk free. He took something from us that we could never replace. Oh lord, why,” Singh posted. Players Sports Club co-founder Sherine Ramkissoon said Rashme had been playing with them for the past 12 years. Lamenting that everyone was heartbroken over her loss, she said Rashme’s love for cricket began from her primary school days. For the year, however, she said Rashme had not played a match with them due to her work commitments.
“She was a very good all-rounder. She was committed to cricket. Rashme gave 100 per cent for cricket. She gave 100 per cent for her team.”
Saying that everyone in her club, which is based in Princes Town, considers each other family, she said they were all still trying to come to terms with her tragic loss. “She was a very soft and very kind person,” she added. Homicide Region 3 officers returned to the house yesterday, and investigations are continuing.
