-ailing grandma left to take care of four children
By Sara Bharrat
As Kulmattie Singh’s mother calls for justice police have released the two men they had taken into custody for her murder during the shooting at Safraz’s Bar and Restaurant.
The men, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said yesterday, were released after a failed identification parade. Persaud explained that because the men were not identified during the parade they have been released. The police force currently has no one in custody for Safraz’s robbery and the murder of the waitress, Singh.
Last Friday, gunmen, during a five-minute rampage, shot Singh in the head and left two patrons injured. At about 9.10 that night, police said in a press statement, three men, two armed with handguns, attacked and robbed patrons and staff of the bar located on David Street, Kitty, Georgetown. The men were not masked and later escaped in a waiting Toyota Carina AT 192.
During the robbery, Singh, 35, of Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara (ECD), was shot to her head and reportedly died on the spot. Jason Montgomery, a 36-year-old Australian national; and Ronald Dhanraj, 39, of Ogle, ECD, were shot and injured. Both men are now home recuperating.
Stabroek News had learnt from a senior police source that a hidden security camera in the bar recorded the robbery. Initially, the source had said, much could not be gleaned from the footage because of the poor quality. Questioned about this recently the Crime Chief confirmed that the robbery was recorded but the Information Technology department, he had said, was in the process of enhancing the images.
The force has not yet said whether these images have been enhanced or if police have been able to glean any useful information from them.
Meanwhile, concerns have been raised, by persons who have requested anonymity, about the fact that victims who attend identification parades are often too afraid to identify their attackers. Victims, they said, fear retribution from associates of their attackers.
Singh’s mother, 64-year-old Chanderpatty, says she wants to see her daughter’s killer brought to justice. The woman has been left to fend for Singh’s three minors as well as her 18-year-old son.
“I must want to see my daughter killer in jail…I must want to see the man who kill my only surviving child…the man who snuff she life,” a distressed Chanderpatty said.
Since the incident, according to Chanderpatty, police have not visited her or any of Singh’s relatives to say anything.
“Is not that I complaining about the police not coming but is my daughter life gone and I thought they shoulda at least come here and let me know what is happening…let the one person who care for she most and who care about if her killer is in jail know what they are doing,” she said.
Surviving
Singh was the sole provider for the home. She took care of her mother, four children and a 14-year-old sister.
The dead woman’s oldest child Nicholas Ramotar, Chanderpatty said, helped Singh to operate a small shop from their Cummings Lodge home. Singh’s wages, she said, were not enough to see to all the family’s needs.
Singh’s first husband, the father of her18-year-old, died 17 years ago. The father of her other three children Randy, Keisha and Andy Tilak who are 7, 5, and 1, respectively, is still alive. However, Singh and her second husband had separated, Chanderpatty said, and her daughter had been single-handedly taking care of children.
“The three children father was here at Shakti’s [Singh] funeral yesterday [Wednesday] and he help out some but he na been back here to discuss if he going to help me with the children,” the woman said.
Chanderpatty says that with or without their father’s help she will take care of the children.
“These children were everything for my daughter,” Chanderpatty said, “and she used to make sure they get every thing they needed. Now I going to have to concentrate on surviving to help my grandchildren survive.”
The woman said she doesn’t work anywhere because of the state of her health. She suffers from diabetes and heart disease. Chanderpatty has suffered one heart attack already and says she drinks a number of pills daily.
When Stabroek News visited the woman at her home yesterday she was tending to her youngest grandchild Andy.
“I am afraid of what will happen to these children if anything happens to me,” Chanderpatty told Stabroek News.
Randy and Keisha will return to school on Monday, Chanderpatty explained, and she still needs to figure out how she will meet their needs.
“They are going to need books and various things for school and so on and I am not sure how I am going to afford those things,” she worried. “We will try to open up back the lil shop home here but even that will not bring enough for the whole family.”
Chanderpatty expressed hope that some organizations will take an interest in the children’s well being. The woman can be contacted at telephone number 222-3369.
“I have not gone anywhere yet to ask for help because I don’t know where to go,” Chanderpatty said, “but I do know that I definitely going to need help with these children.”