Last Updated on Saturday, 3 May 2025, 12:35 by Writer
The three foreign forensic pathologists on Monday said an autopsy on the body of the 11-year-old Adriana Younge did not find evidence that she died from forced drowning or was otherwise killed and placed in the pool, President Irfaan Ali told a news conference.
“Upon completing the procedure, the forensic pathologists ruled out signs of physical and sexual trauma on Ms Younge’s body. After careful deliberation, the team concluded that Ms Younge died as a result of drowning,” he said.
Dr Ali added that due to the state of decomposition of Ms Younge’s body, the pathologists were unable to provide an exact time of death.
He said the relatives were also informed that the pathologists ruled out theories of forcible drowning or any other means of killing, followed by disposal of the body into the water.
Toxicology tests, he said, are to be conducted.
Earlier Monday night, the family’s lawyer, Darren Wade, told reporters that the cause of death was drowning.
He said there were no broken bones.
He said the autopsy found that the marks on Younge’s skin were due to the water in the pool.
The girl’s body was discovered in a pool at the Double Day Hotel, Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo, on Thursday, a day after she was reported missing by her family, who were with her for a family outing.
They and other persons, however, became enraged and suspicious because the police had Wednesday night issued a statement saying that video surveillance cameras had captured her entering an identifiable vehicle that headed east.
Dr Ali said the objectives of the examination were to identify signs of trauma or injuries to the body, sexual violence, collect forensic samples, document the postmortem examination through photographs and videography and determine the cause of death.
The President said a civilian provided inaccurate information from the regional command centre that monitors the surveillance cameras in Region Three (West Demerara-Essequibo Islands).
Turning his attention to the reported looting of restaurants and supermarkets, he blamed unnamed political authors for the clashes between protestors and lawmen.
“Those political actors who have selfishly hijacked this sad situation, your actions speak volumes about your love for this country, your patriotism for this country,” he said.
But Leader of the Opposition and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Aubrey Norton said the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC)-led administration was accusing the opposition wrongfully.
“Let it be made very clear. We do not support the looting. We do not support the destruction of property. We are fully in support in this struggle for justice,” he said.
Despite the findings of the postmortem, he said the girl was not “abducted and brutally murdered.”
He said the PPP was worried about the multiracial reaction to the girl’s death.
Police earlier fired pellets at sympathisers and other persons who had converged outside the Georgetown Public Hospital mortuary while the autopsy was being conducted by three foreign international pathologists.
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