NEW YORK — Close friends and family of alleged suicide victim Marietta Confieso-Bechraoui are calling for a re-investigation and second autopsy of the Filipina, whose body was found hanging in the closet of her room last January.
Bechraoui, 38, was a dialysis technician and former caregiver who lived in Queens. An initial investigation by the NYPD concluded Bechraoui had killed herself. Family members believe otherwise.
“She worked two shifts as a dialysis technician," said Bechraoui son Romar Confieso, 18, in refuting the NYPD findings, suggesting she was suffering from financial hardship.
“She owned a house in Elmhurst and properties in the Philippines. She even had enough money to lend to her friends if they needed it. We were not suffering at all," the son added.
Confieso was still a small child in the Philippines when his mother left for the U.S.
Bechraoui had migrated to New York and initially worked as a domestic worker to make ends meet and to support her son back in the Philippines.
After several years, Bechraoui petitioned for Confieso to finally join her in America when he was 14. “Mayet worked so hard to bring Romar to the U.S. It’s hard to believe she would just leave him like that," said Tess, a friend who knew Bechraoui in her earlier days.
Tess has been attending weekly meetings at the Philippine Forum to discuss the mysterious circumstances surrounding Bechraoui’s death. PF is a community service organization based in Queens.
Confieso is a youth member of Philippine Forum, while Bechraoui had attended several Philippine Forum functions in the past.
Every week, at least a dozen of Bechraoui’s close friends meet at the Philippine Forum office at the Bayanihan Filipino Community Center to gather facts about Bechraoui’s case.
There is a general consensus among these women that the case deserves a second autopsy and investigation, based on suspicion that the preliminary investigation was “sloppy and inefficient."
The meetings also discuss how to raise community support for Bechraoui’s orphaned son.“We suspect the NYPD did not do a good job with the initial investigation and autopsy, and was quick to dismiss it as a suicide," states Philippine Forum Executive Director Robert Roy.
“In fact, there has been a mysterious trend of so-called suicides amongst Filipino immigrant women in the Northeastern US this year alone. But this may be the result of hasty and swift investigations that aren’t taken seriously. In some cases, foul play is automatically overlooked and dismissed.
"Roy commented that immigrants of color are not afforded a thorough investigation by authorities if they turn up dead. The investigation is different, he pointed out, when the victim is a celebrity like actor Heath Ledger who was found dead in his Soho apartment.
“It’s an institutional racism, and the even sadder part is it is supported by Philippine consular offices that do not want to be accountable to deceased Filipino migrants and their families’ needs," Roy added.
Confieso is now living with friends. PF will assist him in opening his own bank account, collecting support funds for him, and provide him with pro-bono legal services. The organization has also been duly appointed by Bechraoui’s family in the Philippines to represent them in the ongoing community campaign demanding for a second investigation and autopsy.A special mass marking the 40th day since Bechraoui’s death will be held on Saturday, February 16th at 12 noon at the Roman Catholic Church of St. Sebastian, located at 58-02 Roosevelt Avenue in Woodside. - Philippine News
