‘Ritualistic items’ found at blood-soaked scene where boy was slain

October 21 2026

By Michael Jordan

The discovery of camphor, incense sticks and large quantities of blood at the spot where six-year-old Orlando Jaikarran was allegedly murdered has added another disturbing dimension to the gruesome killing that has shocked Guyana.

BIG Smith News Watch understands that investigators recovered what a source described as “ritualistic items” at the scene along Waterloo Main Canal, Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, where the child was allegedly chopped on the neck before his body was dumped in the water.

“There were ritualistic items such as camphor and agrabatti and lots of blood at the area where he was killed,” a source disclosed.

The chilling discovery has intensified questions surrounding the circumstances of Orlando’s death, with investigators probing allegations that the child was killed by his father, Bhartat Jaikarran, also known as “Vijai”, following consultations with a Hindu religious official, known as a pujari.

Both Jaikarran and the pujari remain in police custody as the investigation continues.

Police investigators reportedly returned to the canal on Wednesday, where they collected several items of evidential value. Detectives also retrieved six cutlasses and other items from a residence in Bath Settlement.

The brutality of the alleged killing was further underscored on Tuesday when Orlando’s partly decomposed body was recovered from the canal, with his head, left hand and portions of one foot missing. His head has not yet been found.

A post-mortem examination conducted on Wednesday by Government Pathologist Dr Vivekanand Bridgemohan reportedly proved inconclusive, as the body was too badly decomposed to establish a definitive cause of death. The cause was therefore recorded as undetermined.

Sources attributed the rapid decomposition to the child’s small stature, the hot weather and the length of time his body had remained submerged.

Orlando, affectionately called “Lil Boy”, was reportedly killed during the early hours of Thursday, October 15.

Investigators had earlier obtained CCTV footage reportedly showing his father walking with the child before later returning alone, raising further questions about the events leading up to Orlando’s disappearance.

The case has sparked widespread public outrage, with renewed calls from some sections of the public for the reintroduction of the death penalty.

As investigators continue searching for the missing remains and examining the evidence recovered, the full circumstances surrounding the six-year-old’s death remain under investigation.