Alcohol abuse is believed to have been a contributing factor in the rape and murder of Moraikobai, Mahaicony River resident Vilma Andrews, who villagers said was the first person murdered in the community in recent memory.
The nude, decomposing body of Andrews, 48, was found in the community on Friday, April 15, days after she went missing.
During a visit to the community last week, residents told Stabroek News that alcohol was to blame in the violation and murder of the woman, who was last seen alive drinking at a local ‘wedding house.’
Andrews’ son, Elton Richards explained that his mother frequently drank and she would go missing for days. However, she had always managed to return home. “When she start drinking, she does go by she sister and other family and when we go look for her she does behave bad, but she always does come home,” he related.
Some residents suspect that Andrews may have been murdered by visitors from Kamarang and Kamwatta, who were in the area for a wedding. It is believed that they may have demanded sex from the woman, who refused and as a result she was raped and murdered.
A post-mortem examination performed by Government Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh revealed that Andrews was manually strangled and some of the bones in her neck were broken.
Richards told this newspaper that his family was unaware of the results of the autopsy. He added that the family is yet to receive word from the police about the progress of the investigations and if anyone had been arrested
Indranie Smith, a concerned resident, said alcohol was the reason that Andrews was brutally violated and murdered. She described her as a hard and dedicated worker but added that she also drank almost every day. When Andrews’s body was discovered, she said, the close-knit community was stunned and she added that many were still in mourning over the situation.
According to Smith, the village’s toshao has been pushing for alcohol to be used in limited amounts and after the murder, many persons stopped selling it or were restricting the amount that could be purchased by individuals.
“He [the toshao] also advised that alcohol to be banned from the community because it can damage your home, families and even take your life, but people don’t take heed,” she said, adding that she believed that an alcohol ban could result in a more peaceful community.
Substance abuse, including the use of alcohol, has previously been identified as a major problem in the village. Three years ago, as a multi-purpose centre was being reopened in the village, a youth group leader Remington Adrian told Stabroek News that the youths – both male and female – were also engaged in consuming alcohol and using drugs from as young as 11 years and could be seen at bottom-house rum shops late at night.
He had said some of the youngsters would even be seen going to parties with their parents. He pointed out too that “the young people do not use the local beverages like piwari, fly and cassiri; they would prefer the bottled alcohol.”
The drug habit, Adrian reported, was also resulting in the youths engaging in “petty thieving. They would go into farms and steal the produce… It has become an issue for the residents and they always complain to the village council.”
Meanwhile, Smith was also in favour of a police station being established in the community. She said there would have been a better investigation into Andrews’s murder if there were local police there as opposed to those who have to travel all the way from Mahaicony to get to the village.
