The law must take its course in the death of six-year-old Orlando Jaikarran, Education Minister Sonia Parag told a candlelight vigil in Bath, West Coast Berbice, on Thursday evening.
Parag also urged parents and communities to take greater responsibility for protecting children as scores of parents, teachers, pupils and residents gathered to mourn the boy.

"The law has to take its course. Every ounce of what the law should do, it should do in this case," Parag said, adding that "Little Orlando did not deserve the death or the hand that he was dealt with in life. He did not deserve that."

The procession moved from the Bath Primary School compound, where Orlando, affectionately known as "Lil Boy", was a Grade One pupil, to the Bath Community Centre Ground.
Addressing the gathering, Parag urged adults to be more attentive to children's needs and wellbeing.
"We can make sure that we raise our children, that we hold them close, that we hug them, that we tell them we love them, that we actually protect them," she said.
She then widened her appeal to children outside people's own homes.

"So let us use this as a moment to ensure that every single young person and child, whether they're in our care or they're living next door to you, that you're looking out for them," she said.
The minister said the loss was felt well beyond Bath.

"This evening, I join with the Bath community. I join with Region Five. And I join with the rest of the country in mourning this tragic, tragic loss," she added.
She also pledged help for those closest to Orlando at school.

"We will give the support that is necessary to his friends and his teachers, who I know have taken this really, really hard. But we will be here," she told the gathering.
Orlando's body was found in the Waterloo Main Canal near the sea dam at Bath Settlement on Tuesday, October 20. His father, Bharrat Jaikarran, was remanded to prison on Friday on a charge of murdering him.