An elderly overseas-based Guyanese pensioner was robbed of a gold band in a brazen attack around noon yesterday at Rose Hall Town.
Leela Nauth 71, of Queens, New York, who has been vacationing in Guyana for almost two weeks now, said the robbery happened so fast she was left in a shock.
Police are currently investigating and one person is said to be in custody.
Nauth along with her sister had stopped at A.K.’s Pawn shop and Variety Store, where her niece works, after shopping at the Rose Hall Town market.
Nauth sat outside of the store when she saw a man, who appeared to be in his 40s, approaching the store. She said she did not pay attention to the man. “I did not even see when he walked in the store. All I feel somebody holding my hand and when I do realise, I saw him taking off my band,” she said, noting that the thief did not tell her anything or attempt to harass her. “He just come and take off the band and escaped,” she added.
After the man took off her band, her niece, who was around at the time, sounded an alarm but nobody was able to catch the culprit. He escaped through the alley next to the store.
Stabroek News was told that persons who rushed to the woman’s assistance ran behind the man, but were unable to catch him as he escaped on a bicycle.
Nauth said the solid gold band was worth approximately $200,000. It was a Mother’s Day gift from her children and had the word “mother” engraved on it. She had had it for several years.
Meanwhile, Nauth’s sister was traumatised by the incident, with relatives saying that her pressure had gotten higher and she was feeling very sick.
Nauth’s family was upset at the incident, saying they came to vacation not to get robbed. Relatives also said that there was no police on the road at the time when the incident occurred and that should not have been the case since Rose Hall is a very busy town.
They questioned what the government is doing about the climbing crime rate in the country. They said too that with all the crime in the country, persons abroad are afraid to return home to visit and the country will lose a lot of foreign income.
