Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 21, 2008 News
Bandits who broke into a house in Canal Number Two early yesterday morning bound their victims then made off with their loot.
Some time during the robbery, a 68-year-old woman, identified as Budhia, also known as ‘Ronui,’ was killed. Initial reports are that she died of strangulation.
The dead woman’s daughter, Sandy Rampersaud, said that at about 01:00 hour yesterday, a trio of bandits entered the family’s Lot ‘F’ Conservancy Dam home at Canal Number Two, where she lived with her mother and 13-year-old daughter, Shivani Rampersaud.
She said that the criminals removed some louvre panes from the window, and then reached into the house to unbolt the door.
Once entry was gained, the criminals went into the room where Budhia was sleeping, bound her hands and feet, and gagged her with duct tape. They also wrapped her neck with the duct tape and further restrained her with a hammock rope.
Sandy Rampersaud said that on hearing the commotion, she rose from her bed and went to investigate. As she entered her mother’s room, she saw three men holding her mother by the neck and hands.
The men then pounced on her (Sandy) and restrained her in a similar way to her mother.
After they had done this, Sandy explained, the bandits went into the room which she shared with her daughter and tied up the teen.
Shivani explained to this newspaper that she was jostled and pushed to the ground, causing her to sustain a cut to her chin.
The girl recounted that she was warned by the criminals not to look at their faces.
At this point, the bandits demanded that the women hand over all their cash and jewellery.
Sandy produced approximately $150,000 in local currency and some foreign currency. She was also forced to hand over a quantity of jewellery, which she estimated to be worth over $1 million.
After taking the valuables, the three bandits escaped. As the family members were tied up, Sandy said, she was not sure whether the intruders had escaped on foot or by car. She also noted that escape by boat was possible, due to the proximity of the conservancy.
Once she had managed to free her hands, Sandy said, she unbound her feet and went to help her daughter, who had also begun to remove her restraints.
When they checked on her mother, Sandy said, she had stopped breathing.
The woman told Kaieteur News that she believes her mother had succumbed to strangulation, due to the tightness of the duct tape which had been placed around her neck.
She said that, contrary to the opinion that her mother had had a heart attack due to the shock of the robbery, a view voiced by members of the Guyana Police Force who were in the area, her mother was a strong woman and had no health problems.
Friends and neighbours who gathered at the house explained that another household had been robbed some time before.
Others voiced concern over the robbery, saying that the thieves must be from the area, as they knew which house to target.
“Is like dem (bandits) did know that is only woman live in de house, cause them to go there,” said one resident.
The robbery and subsequent death of Budhia have prompted residents of the area — Sandy among them — to call for the reformation of a policing or vigilante group in the area.
Apparently a policing group existed before, but it has long since stopped functioning.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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