– men succumb three weeks after drinking bingeFREE YARD, PORT MOURANT – Two best friends died four days apart under questionable circumstances – their relatives are perplexed and looking for answers.Twenty-eight year old Rishi Singh who bears the alias ‘Bramble’ of Lot 81 Free Yard, Port Mourant and his pal since childhood 25-year old Ricky Mallay aka ‘Chiney’ of Lot 61 Free Yard,Wholesale Jerseys China, Port Mourant, both consumed a copious amount of alcoholic beverages on May 10.Word in some sections is that they were poisoned but the questions are – by whom and why?Together the men are survived by their reputed wives and five children between the ages of nine years and nine months.At the home of Rishi Singh, his common-law wife for 12 years, Davika Ramjas, all dressed in black, said she was puzzled and could not understand what happened to him. She related that on May 10, both men were ‘drinking’ since during the morning, at the home she shared with her common-law husband. Sometime between 17:00 and 17:30 hours, a good friend called Uncle Joe, who lived next door but is now residing in New York, stopped by to drop off plantain chips for the children as is customary.According to Ramjas, Uncle Joe offered to buy the two men a drink (which was also customary) and took them to a shop next door. Rishi Singh asked for Vodka but there was none so he settled for red rum. She said the bottle was sealed, and she knew that because the men went back to their home where Rishi Singh sat in the hammock and Ricky Mallay on a chair.Ricky Mallay broke the seal and since they had already consumed a copious amount of alcohol, they decided to divide it equally and use later on, “Me husband drink from the red rum about quarter to eight (19:45 hours) and left about two to three shots. He tell me he finish drinking and want to vomit and he come downstairs and vomit. After that we went back upstairs and he sleep then he vomit two more times.”This continued the next day (May 11) and on May 12 he visited the GuySuCo dispensary at Port Mourant.Ricky Mallay accompanied them she recalled, “He get injection, Gravol and Piriton tablets and he continue to vomit.”She said that on May 14, Ricky Mallay took Singh to the Port Mourant Hospital. On May 17 they carried him to a private doctor at Williamsburg, where he received, “saline, two injections and other medicine.” The following day (May 18), the family took Rishi Singh to a Pandit, “and he open book…to see if he get ‘gra’.” The so-called expert told them he had fever. On May 19, they returned to the said Pandit, “to jaray him.”The next day they transported Rishi Singh to a private laboratory at Lancaster Village, “He do seven tests.”On May 21, he visited a private doctor at Belvedere, “He get six injections and a bag of tablets.” He returned to the said doctor the following day and May24. By this time he was said to be gasping for breath.The following day (May 25) the doctor at Belvedere referred him to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he was admitted to Ward Six at about 13:30 hours, “He spend two days (in Ward Six)…(May 27th) at 9 o’clock ICU…Spend five days.”Davika Ramjas said when she visited her reputed husband on May 31st he insisted he wanted to go home, “to see his children…They tie down my husband to the bed…because he pulling out the oxygen from he face.”On May 31st she observed that his tongue was black, nails blue and some other parts appeared to be darker than usual. Ramjas has six children but the younger three – nine year old Kunal, four year old Rishana and nine-month old Ashana are Rishi Singh’s children.Just minutes before Ramjas got word that Rishi Singh had died, their four-year old daughter who is also handicapped began screaming and told her mother, “Pappie come and say he not talking back to me.” That was 19:15 hours on Monday and at 19:40 the woman called the New Amsterdam Hospital to enquire of her reputed husband’s health. The nurses were busy, could not talk to her and ten minutes later she received a call from the hospital saying he was dead.She said the post mortem was performed yesterday at the New Amsterdam Hospital. According to Ramjas, the findings were inconclusive. She said he had no enemies that she knew of. He is to be buried on Sunday at the Babu John Cemetery.Yesterday, when the unemployed Davika Ramjas returned home from the Whim Police Station where she claimed she reported her common-law husband’s death, she got the message that his best friend Ricky Mallay aka ‘Chiney’ had died a few minutes earlier. She claimed she was flabbergasted since Mallay was with her reputed husband almost every trip to the doctors and hospitals. She was told that he was vomiting, carrying a high temperature and had diarrhoea but said she did not know he was that sick.Rishi Singh was a cane-harvester at the GuySuco’s Albion Estate and Ricky Mallay was a field worker at the said location.A few houses away, Mallay’s relatives were being consoled by friends and other family members.Mallay is survived by his reputed wife 35-year old Galo Abrahim and two children – Nadia two years and Maya one-year-old.Abrahim could not recall the exact dates, but said that Mallay began complaining of pain in the stomach three weeks ago and subsequently began vomiting. Last week they took him to a private doctor at Tain Settlement but it made no difference. His health continued to deteriorate. Three days later he was rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital, was treated and sent away. Then to another private clinic where he was treated and blood tests were requested.Last Thursday he was admitted to a private hospital in Georgetown.Galo Abrahim said the doctor in Georgetown told them that one of his lungs and a kidney had failed. According to her, he was placed on life support. He too did not want to remain in hospital and begged to be taken home. When his sister Babita Mallay visited him yesterday, she was told that he died at about 11:00 hours. His reputed wife described him as one who uses alcoholic beverages occasionally, “but he does always come home to eat.”His 61-year-old mother Monica Mallay said her daughter asked her to return from New York to Guyana on Monday because he was sick. They did not tell her how severe his condition was, “It’s strange…they are two friends together…he tek sick and die and the next one tek sick and die.” She said the two men were very close to each other, like brothers. Her son spent most of his time at Rishi Singh’s home. The mother said when she saw her son at hospital he told her it was a new bottle of rum, “He raised the mask and he pull it down back and say Uncle Joe buy the rum. The bottle was seal and he break the seal…Uncle Joe is a very good man.”A source from Division ‘B’ the Guyana Police Force said that detectives are not actively involved in the matter. Should there be anything to suggest foul play after autopsies were performed then the necessary investigation would be conducted. Or if necessary, samples would be sent for further testing.
