Six-year-old Orlando Jaikarran, the Bath Settlement boy whose decomposed remains were found in an alligator-infested canal after more than a week missing, was buried on Friday, October 23, 2026, three days after the discovery that shook Guyana.
The funeral at the Bath Settlement Community Ground drew his mother, siblings, grandparents, schoolmates, regional officials and neighbours, according to Kaieteur News, which first reported the ceremony. The murder charge against his father, Bharrat Jaikarran, was read in court the same morning.
A community buries a child it knew by voice
Orlando, born on July 14, 2020, was the youngest of four brothers and attended Waterloo Nursery School. His mother, Navita Ramnarine, was too grief-stricken to read her own eulogy, so a member of the Sunday School Department of Miracle Touch Assembly of God Church delivered it for her.
She remembered a boy the whole village recognized.
He loved the Spiderman character, cars and trucks. His favourite food was chicken fried rice. You would always find him running in the yard and playing with his siblings and cousins. Everyone in Bath knew his voice.
She described a child who had grown into a helper around the home in his last two years, riding his bicycle, playing cricket and flying kites with his brothers, cousins and friends.
He had a smile that could fix any bad day... six years was not enough for us, but it was enough for him to show us what pure love is. Rest well, our baby.
School and region pledge action
Susan Hemerding, headteacher of Bath Primary School, where Orlando was a Grade One pupil, said the tragedy had profoundly shaken the school community.
Today, we gather with heavy hearts and profound sadness to honour the memory of one of our beloved Grade One pupils of Bath Primary School, Orlando Jaikarran, whose young life was tragically taken from us. It is difficult to find the words to express the pain and disbelief felt by the school community.
Regional Chairman of Region Five, Recardo Phillips, condemned violence against children and pledged that the regional administration would pursue measures to safeguard children across communities. He urged residents to speak up whenever a child's welfare is at risk.
The development and transformation of this region hinges on the youth, our children, and as such, we must protect them. Violence against children has no place in our society, in our communities, in our region, in our country as a whole.
The father faces a murder charge
Orlando had been missing for more than a week before his remains were found. He was allegedly killed by his father, accused of butchering the child and dumping the body in a canal at Bath Settlement, Kaieteur News reported.
Bharrat Jaikarran was charged with murder on Friday and remanded to prison. A Hindu temple priest, known locally as a pujari, is also reportedly in police custody.
The boy's paternal grandmother, Dhankumarie Gowkarran, endured a double ordeal on Friday. She attended her son's first court appearance in the morning, then buried her grandson in the afternoon. She had reportedly been told by her son that he had not harmed the child.
A pattern readers will recognize
Orlando's death joins a grim roster of cases in which children were killed by the adults charged with their care. In England, six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes was murdered in 2020 by his father and his father's partner after prolonged isolation, repeated assaults and food deprivation, as documented on Wikipedia.
Closer in time, a North Texas family finally laid six-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez to rest this month, four years after he was last seen alive, CBS News reported. His mother fled to India and faces capital murder charges, and the city of Everman held a public candlelight vigil, according to FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth.
These cases share a troubling feature: warnings, or at least windows for intervention, existed before each child died. Whether that proves true in Orlando's case is now a matter for the police and the courts.
What happens next
Bharrat Jaikarran remains remanded as the murder case proceeds. The pujari in police custody has not been publicly charged. Region Five's administration says it will pursue child safeguarding measures, and the national conversation Orlando's death started shows no sign of fading.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Orlando Jaikarran?
Orlando Jaikarran was a six-year-old boy from Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, Guyana. He was the youngest of four brothers, attended Waterloo Nursery School and was a Grade One pupil at Bath Primary School.
Who has been charged with his murder?
His father, Bharrat Jaikarran, was charged with murder on Friday, October 23, 2026, and remanded to prison. A Hindu temple priest is also reportedly in police custody.
Where was Orlando's body found?
His badly decomposed remains were found in an alligator-infested canal at Bath Settlement, more than a week after he went missing. He was buried three days after the discovery.