ON MONDAY, the pathologist who did the autopsy on the body of six-year-old Sean Luke, days after his body was found in a cane field near his Orange Valley home, is expected to give evidence at the trial of the two men charged with the boy’s murder.
On Friday, the defence completed its interrogation of the State’s last civilian witnesses in the case. As a result, the temporary gag on reporting the two witnesses’ evidence was lifted.
Last Wednesday, Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds imposed a temporary gag restricting reporting of any part of the evidence of Avinash Baboolal and Arvis Pradeep – two of the State’s main witnesses against Akeel Mitchell and Richard Chatoo.
Baboolal and Pradeep were also teenagers in the village where Luke lived and were among a group of boys who last saw the six-year-old alive, according to their evidence.
The judge later amended the restriction to extend only until both men completed their testimony. On Friday, she lifted the restriction when Pradeep’s testimony ended.
Both men spent five days giving evidence under intense questioning from Mitchell and Chatoo’s attorneys.
Baboolal was 17 at the time of Luke’s murder. Pradeep was 13.
Luke’s body was found on March 28, in a bushy area in the cane field close to his home at Henry Street Extension, Orange Valley, Couva, two days after he went missing. An autopsy showed he died from internal injuries arising from being sodomised with a cane stalk.
Both Baboolal and Pradeep said they both saw Luke on the evening of March 26, when a group, which included Mitchell and Chatoo, went fishing at a nearby river.
Both said Mitchell and Chatoo took Luke into the cane field, close to his home. Baboolal said it was before the fishing excursion, while Pradeep said it was after.
They were grilled on why neither of them told either the police or Luke’s mother and relatives about the last time they saw the boy, and claimed they were afraid of the police and getting into trouble.
They were also asked if they had a proclivity for young boys, but denied it.
On the first day of his testimony, Baboolal said he heard a “skreel,” while Pradeep said he heard “bawling and screaming.”
In his evidence, Baboolal said Chatoo, Mitchell and their cousin went into the cane and he heard a loud “skreel,” sounding like a speaker box and not human, and five to six minutes later, the three other boys came out.
He said he asked Chatoo for Luke and was told the boy was “doing a poo and he will go home when he finish.” Baboolal said they went fishing and when they had almost got to the river, Mitchell said he was going back home and left.
He said when he looked back, he saw Mitchell going back into the cane.
After the fishing expedition, in front of Luke’s home, Baboolal said Richard and his brothers went home, while Mitchell went back into the direction of the river, and up to that time, he did not see Luke.
He said he was not worried, since Chatoo said when the boy was done, he was going home.
“I thought he was home.”
The next day, he was told
