Before the body of the nine-year-old arrived in a hearse from Sandy's Funeral Parlour in Georgetown, at about 12:15 hrs, mourners at her home at 205 Track 'A' Coldingen had formed three lines that stretched all the way up the road.

Pent up feelings of family members were finally released when the body arrived and the expected tears began to flow for a child who had woven herself into the hearts of the community.

Immediate family members wore t-shirts with a picture of the dead girl on the front bearing the words “You will always be in our hearts".

Many vehicles were parked outside the house and as time passed, the numbers multiplied rapidly with persons who went to pay their last respects.

Among them were Minister of Fisheries, Crops and Other Livestock, Mr Satydeow Sawh and Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Mr Manzoor Nadir who both gave family members words of comfort.

THE GRIEF (left): schoolmates of little Christine Sookra could not hold back the tears at her residence yesterday afternoon.

DISTRAUGHT (right) : Christine's mother Angela Sookra embraces her son, Ryan while another family member tries to comfort them as other persons look on.

(Mike Norville photos)

Top government officials, including acting Home Affairs Minister, Ms Gail Teixeira and Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon, visited the family earlier in the week and Prime Minister Sam Hinds was there Thursday.

They have also met the relatives of others killed in the terror wave on East Coast villages adjoining Buxton.

Mr Robert Corbin, leader of the main opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) headed a party delegation which also met the Sookra family and others.

The throng at the funeral yesterday was so large that many mourners left without getting a glimpse of the body, but satisfied they had turned up to give support.

Persons at the funeral reflected on how they were outraged at the child's senseless death and their faces showed the many unanswered questions the nation is still asking.

When this newspaper left the scene, the long queues were moving slowly and some took matters into their own hands and climbed on to the fence and gate trying to get a glimpse.

The Enterprise Primary School which Christine attended was well represented by two busloads of her school mates and the sight of them holding on to each other and weeping bitterly was too much for the adults to bear.

Christine was shot in the head after a heavily-armed gang of men in black clothes sprayed her home with bullets.

The shooting marked the beginning of a crime-filled weekend for East Coast villages neighbouring Buxton, including Annandale, Lusignan and Coldingen.

Three men, Nigel Amsterdam of Buxton, Ramesh Suesankar of Lusignan and Anthony Parsram were killed and members of several households beaten and robbed.

Police have since mounted several operations in Buxton, including a search and cordon exercise yesterday in which nine persons were arrested.

Police said they also found black clothes and camouflage uniforms in bushes.

Christine Sookra was shot as the terrified family huddled together in their front bedroom just after midnight. The family had crept there to hide after the gunmen opened up a barrage of fire on the concrete house.

Christine's brother, Ryan, 14, was shot in the left hand and admitted to a city hospital.

Their father, Rhajpaul Sookra, called 'Pally', 42, said they were asleep at around 12:30 hrs when barking dogs woke him up.

The carpenter contractor said he saw a man dressed in black with a "long gun" standing in front of his yard.

He said he quickly walked through the house, dimly lit by a lamp, and gathered his wife, daughter, two sons and a niece and nephew staying with them, in his bedroom, which he thought was the safest place.

Sookra said the gunmen ordered them to open the doors to the house and after no one responded, the shooting began.

The hail of bullets cracked glass windows and blasted the concrete walls of the house, he related, adding that the shooting lasted for about 20 minutes.

"I told them to lie down...and my daughter was lying on the ground between the bed and the window but raised up to peep," he said.

A bullet hit the child in the head, tearing a portion of the left side, relatives said.

"After she get shot I start call for help...and that was it... the bandits left."

Sookra said no one went to their rescue, as everyone in the neighbourhood was scared of being shot by the gunmen, who later "ran down the street."

Police said the gang terrorised other families in the area.

Three bullets fired from under the Sookra house by the attackers pierced the wood floor, the bed and ceiling without hitting any of the seven occuants lying on the floor, the father said.

Gunmen earlier last month launched a deadly attack on the Appanna family at Non Pariel.

In that attack, a 14-year-old girl hid under her bed while bandits stabbed her father, Davechand Appanna, 45, to death. Her mother Hemrajie, 42, was left unconscious from a fractured skull and stab wounds.

Residents from that village have been fleeing since that attack and have called for a police outpost in the area.

Days after, gunmen shot and killed a young policeman during a police operation in Buxton.

September 04, 2004