– wife battered, family in shock
By Chevy Devonish
Lima pig farmer Herman Ramnarine was strangled on Wednesday with a mosquito net by bandits who carted off over $250,000 from his home, battering his wife in the process and leaving his family in shock and disbelief.
The bound and battered body of Herman Ramnarine was discovered in the lower flat of his home by his wife Hemwantie, who was also brutalised by the men who robbed them of cash and jewellery on Wednesday night.
Their son, Roger Ramnarine, recounted most of the episode as related to him by his mother, who was too distraught to speak to this newspaper yesterday.
Roger stated that his father Herman, a pig farmer, lived with his wife in a two- storey house on Sea Dam Road in Lima, Essequibo Coast.
He said that his mother, a housewife, would usually sleep in the top flat of their home while his father slept in the lower flat. According to the man’s mother, Herman awoke at about 11.30 Wednesday evening and decided to go outside and enjoy the cool evening breeze, an act he had repeated countless times despite constant scolding from his wife.
He said it was not unusual for his father to fall asleep while sitting in the yard enjoying the breeze. The son speculated that his father was probably asleep, which availed his assailants the opportunity to surprise him. He surmised that it was probably after surprising him outside that they took him into the bottom flat of the house, where they proceeded to tie him up and beat him about the head. The dead man’s son related that they tied his arms and neck and covered his nose.
A relative of the man, who was present when Stabroek News visited the residence, said that the assailants had used pieces of mosquito netting to tie the man up. “They double the netting and tie he up, you know how strong the ting is get when you double it?” the man asked.
A post-mortem examination carried out yesterday revealed that the man, though he suffered blunt force trauma to the head, had succumbed as a result of asphyxiation caused by the mosquito netting tied around his neck.
Roger said his mother told him that after the assailants were done with his father, they proceeded to the upstairs flat of the house via the inside stairs, where they brutalised her.
According to the man’s mother, the assailants told her “we just done kill yuh husband, and we gon do the same to you.” Roger said that the men “charged” his mother brandishing a cutlass. “She hold onto the cutlass fuh protect she self and end up getting a cut on she hand.” Eventually Mrs Ramnarine was subdued by her assailants and was also bound and beaten.
After tying and beating the man’s wife, the bandits went about searching the house for jewellery and other valuables. According to Roger, the men found and removed 1 gold chain, 3 gold bangles, 1 pair of gold earrings and a wedding band.
He said that in addition to the jewellery the men found approximately $250,000 and made good their escape with both the jewellery and the cash.
Some time after the bandits left, Mrs Ramnarine told her son, she managed to free herself and immediately went looking for her husband, who she found lying motionless in the lower flat of their home. She said when she found her husband he had injuries to his head, his hands were tied behind his back and a piece of cloth was wrapped around his neck.
According to relatives, police from the Anna Regina Police Station said they have apprehended the two men believed to have been responsible. However, investigations are ongoing.
