COGNAC SEND-OFF: This screen grab, taken from video images posted to social media, shows a mourner pouring Hennessy cognac on the body of Phillip Basant, brother in law of murdered auto dealer Sheron Sukhdeo. Basant, who himself was gunned down, was cremated on Tuesday.
UPDATE:
IN a send-off similar to that of his murdered brother-in-law Sheron Sukhdeo, mourners on Tuesday poured bottles of champagne over the body of Phillip Basant.
But videos circulating on social media of the funeral were criticised by Facebook users.
“What type of foolishness is this?” one viewer commented.
Referring to Basant’s sister Rachael Sukhdeo, another wrote: “Who the (explicit) pours alcohol on a dead person and looks at a dead man and say ‘you is the luckiest man alive’...I use to feel sorry for you, but the truth starting to come out now.”
One of the videos shows people pouring Hennessy and Moët champagne over the body in the coffin, which also held a religious book believed to be a Bible.
Basant, 28, was shot dead on Friday last only 39 days after Rachael’s multi-millionaire real-estate and car-dealer husband Sheron, 33, was gunned down in almost the same spot in Charlieville.
In the videos, Basant’s bereaved sister leaned over his coffin and said: “You are the luckiest man alive, boy. You have no worries again, boy.”
As mourners poured the expensive alcoholic drinks on the body, she said: “This man lived liked a boss and he dead like a boss.”
Basant was buried on Tuesday at Cemetery Street, Charlieville, after a service at Caroni Savannah Road in Charlieville.
Despite the criticism, people also said Basant “went in style” and many extended condolences to the family.
In a similar fashion, during the March 30 funeral for Sheron, mourners showered the body with Moët champagne at the Waterloo Cremation site in Carapichaima.
Referred by associates as “World Boss,” the corpse of the father of two had thick gold chains with massive medallions around his neck. A pair of Timberland boots was also in the casket.
Moments before the funeral pyre was lit, relatives removed the jewelry from around Sukhdeo’s neck before his casket was placed in the fire.
Police are yet to make any arrests in both murders.
ORIGINAL STORY:
IN SCENE similar to his own funeral, murdered auto parts dealer Sheron Sukhdeo's brother in law Phillip Basant also got a champagne send-off at his own funeral on Tuesday.
Videos posted to social media yesterday showed mourners pouring bottles of expensive Moët Chandon champagne and Hennessy cognac on Basant's body inside his coffin, hours before he was cremated at the Waterloo cremation site. The videos sparked outrage among social media users one of whom exclaimed, "what kind of foolishness is this?'
Similar condemnation was expressed when videos of Sukhdeo's cremation showed his associates pouring champagne, whiskey and cognac onto his funeral pyre. Basant was shot dead last Friday. He was the brother of Sukhdeo's wife Rachael. A month ago, Sukhdeo himself was also gunned down. Both murders have not been solved.
