The body of a 56-year-old Stewartville man was discovered with a shirt covering his battered head in the bottom flat of his home yesterday morning.
Jamaludin Sattar, a sugar estate field worker, of Lot 28 Stewartville Housing Scheme, West Coast Demerara was discovered dead around 7:00am yesterday by his wife, Jennifer Hartman, who had just returned from a night’s work as a security guard. The body bore a single wound to the head.
According to Zaman (only name), the dead man’s brother-in-law, a masala brick discovered close to Sattar’s body is believed to be the weapon used in the attack.
Police in a release yesterday said that Sattar was found with suspected marks of violence to his head. The police said that the home was ransacked and they are awaiting the results of the Post-Mortem Examination as investigations continue.
When asked what the possible motive for the attack could have been, Zaman said that while the family has no idea what precisely happened, it is believed that Sattar was killed by a home intruder.
Zaman pointed out a piece of wood that was braced on a post of the house. The wooden plank is believed to have been used as a makeshift ladder by the intruder who apparently gained entry through a front window located at the right side of the house. Zaman added that while nothing seems to be missing so far, the entire house was ransacked. This, he said, led him to believe that someone had broken into the house in search of something. Sattar was also home alone throughout the night, so an exact time of his death has not been determined.
Neighbours told the family that because of the heavy rains and high winds throughout the night no one heard anything.
Zaman said that after the discovery of Sattar’s body, he reported the matter to the Leonora Police Station. He added that police officers came and made checks.
At the time Stabroek News visited the home, Hartman was seen cleaning the blood stains from the concrete on which Sattar’s body was discovered. Sattar lived at the same address all of his life and had been a cane cutter for approximately 40 years.
The Post-Mortem Examination is expected to be conducted today. He leaves to mourn his wife and relatives. (Erica Williams)
