Dolly Amana Baksh sister of another of Guyana musical artiste Sammy Baksh began showing her talent for dancing at the age of five. She made her first stage appearance at the age of eight and at the age of 12 was one of the performers in Carifesta ’72, which was held in Guyana. She performed classical Indian dances, however, it was her sensual belly-dancing that mesmerized the crowds. Her dancing helped Dolly to land a part in the locally-made film Operation Makonaima. She also became a member of the People’s Culture Corps, which often performed at national and international events.
Dolly had passed nine subjects at the GCE ‘O’ Level Exams, and also gained two ‘A’ Level passes and had her heart set on becoming a doctor after her successful application for entry into the University of Guyana.
On Saturday, September 15, 1979, 19-year-old Dolly, along with members of the Culture Corps band, performed at a cultural event at the Prime Minister’s Residence, in honor of the President of Guinea, Ahmed Seko Toure, who was in Guyana on a three-day visit. It was to be her last dance.
Two days later, on Monday, September 17, 1979, Dolly reportedly left the family’s Campbell Avenue home just past midday, after informing her mother that she was going to borrow a few books. Dolly apparently had a rendezvous with a male friend; 23-year-old Tejpaul Singh, a mechanical engineering student at the Government Technical Institute (GTI).
According to reports, the six-foot tall GTI student left his mother’s Industry, East Coast Demerara home early Monday morning for classes. The two friends were later seen walking casually along the seawall near Bel Air. Around four o’clock that afternoon, the police and ambulance service received almost simultaneous calls that two injured persons were lying on the Kitty foreshore.
When the ambulance service staffers arrived, they found a young woman of East Indian ancestry in a semi-conscious condition lying in a clump of bushes. Nearby lay a young man who was also of East Indian ancestry. The medics established that he was already dead.
Both victims were fully clothed, but someone had struck them with terrible force on their heads. The murder weapon appeared to be a heavy length of greenheart wood, which was found near the dead man. It was soon established that the victims were Dolly Baksh and Tejpaul Singh.
The badly injured dancer was rushed to the Georgetown Hospital but died shortly after. Autopsies would reveal that both victims had suffered fractured skulls. Detectives, led by Crime Chief Cecil ‘Skip’ Roberts, focused their attention on trying to solve the double-murder. It was speculated that “Skip” immediately ruled out murder or rape as a motive for the deaths and had a suspect in mind; The seawall stalker.
Seawall Stalker
Back then, police were investigating a spate of brutal, unsolved attacks on lovers on the seawall. Prior to the double murder, a young rank from the Guyana People’s Militia (GPM) had been killed under similar circumstances. Around the same time, a young woman was beaten and left unconscious in the same area where the GPM rank had been slain. Luckily, passersby spotted the woman lying on the foreshore and saved her from being drowned by the incoming tide.
It was reported that Crime Chief Cecil Roberts believed that Dolly Baksh and Tejpaul Singh hand been bludgeoned by the same apparently deranged man who seemed to be waging a vendetta against couples who ventured on the seawall.
The double murder of Dolly Baksh and Tejpaul Singh remain unsolved.
Excerpts from Kaieteur News
