Rudolph Baldeo, 59, was buried on September 12, three days after he had succumbed to a stroke, his wife, Bibi Baldeo said. The woman told Stabroek News yesterday that her husband, a well-known road contractor, usually wore jewellery and it is believed that the tomb raiders were under the impression he was buried with the pieces. “But all he bury with was his spectacles and a fake band and chain which he requested,” she told Stabroek News.
A resident of the community informed Stabroek News of the incident and she believed that the man had been buried with expensive jewellery. A small crowd gathered on the roadway in front of the Vryheid’s Lust burial ground yesterday morning as Baldeo’s wife stood in front of the huge tomb. The back of the tomb was broken and the man’s casket was outside. While the police were on the scene no one had opened the casket to determine if the corpse had been robbed.
The woman said the father of two was buried in a family vault that also housed his parents as well as a sister and brother.
Bibi said shortly after burial, the family was informed that persons were planning to rob the corpse and this resulted in them placing a security guard at the site during the nights for one week. She said it was a shock that four months after the burial someone would commit such an act. “He was a good man and he treated his workers right. I don’t know why someone could do something like that,” she said.
Some of the man’s former employees who had gathered on the scene attested to him being a “good man.”
Bibi said she was very hurt over the act as she missed her husband very much, and especially during the Christmas season. She added that to have his tomb desecrated makes it worse. She was also hurt and upset over the taunts from members of the crowd who had gathered. “I don’t know why these people saying these things, my husband was a good person who helped this community,” she said.
