Two persons, including a man who reportedly had an ongoing feud with Rhampattie Ramsundar, are in police custody assisting with investigations into her brutal murder.
Stabroek News was told by a senior police official that the two men are both residents of the Newtown, Enmore, East Coast Demerara area where the incident occurred. This newspaper understands that the duo was held some time on Wednesday.
The official confirmed that one of the men in custody resides in a house that a tracker dog led police to, about two hours after the body of the 64-year-old woman was found lying in the bottom flat of her home on Tuesday. He told Stabroek News that the man had reportedly threatened to kill the woman.
Neighbours had told this newspaper that the man was in the habit of troubling the woman, who lived alone. She had made numerous reports to the police about his behaviour but he continued to harass her. It is unclear how the other man is linked to the woman and according to the police official he sells DVDs for a living.
Ramsundar, popularly called ‘Auntie Daro,’ was found dead around 10:45 am in the kitchen of her home, which had been ransacked. Her hands, which were raised above her head, were tied and marks of violence were visible about her body. There was also something around her neck leading to suspicions that she had been strangled. The perpetrator/s also threw a piece of cloth over her body.
More that half a million dollars which the woman had collected last Thursday was missing.
A neighbour reported hearing strange sounds around 3:30 am on Tuesday and when she looked out saw that a side door on the upper flat was open and the house lights were on. The woman said she called out to the woman but there was no answer. When she looked out again about an hour later, the door was closed. The neighbour had said that seeing the door open was not strange because the elderly woman would sometimes use her outside washroom.
