A mother of five was yesterday morning fatally stabbed in her house at Tuschen and her former reputed husband has been taken into custody.
Sookdai (Lalita) Basdeo, 37, of Tuschen Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo was discovered around 7.45 am by her reputed husband with severe stab wounds at their home. She succumbed shortly after.
Her former reputed husband, Mohammed Iqbal, has been taken into police custody to assist with investigations. Iqbal had been placed on a bond to keep the piece with her earlier this year and had been accused of issuing threats against her.
Speaking with Stabroek News, Salim Ahmad, a 32-year-old father of three, who shared a common-law union with Basdeo up to the time of her death, said that he got up around 6.45 am and went to his parents’ house to wash his car.
He added that when he returned home at around 7.45 am he saw Basdeo in a pool of blood and gasping for breath. Ahmad said that he called on neighbours for assistance but didn’t get much response. He then ran over to his parents’ house to seek help. His mother, Bibi Farida Daniels, said that she was inside her home when she heard her son screaming for her. She added that when she hurried outside she saw her son’s pants covered with blood. Daniels added that she and her husband then accompanied Ahmad to his home. She said when she got into the house the gruesome sight horrified her. “He really cruelled her, there was blood all over,” Daniels said.
Ahmad and his father proceeded to bring Basdeo’s body outside in an attempt to take her to the hospital. However, they soon realized that she had stopped breathing and decided to call the police instead.
He added that the police responded very quickly. Neighbours also speculated that Iqbal had himself called the police after the attack.
They said that when the police arrived at the crime scene they brought along Iqbal. Onlookers said that Iqbal shouted out what his plans had been. Onlookers say that the police officers then asked him about the whereabouts of the weapon (believed to be a knife) and he told officers that he threw it in the bushes. He was subsequently taken to look for the weapon, witnesses said. It is not certain whether the weapon was found.
Ahmad told Stabroek News that he had been in a relationship with Basdeo for over a year. He added that because of domestic violence, Basdeo had left her husband and the two subsequently started a relationship.
He said that while Basdeo remained in a relationship with him, Iqbal would call on the phone and threaten her life. Earlier in the year, Iqbal was placed on a bond to keep the peace and ordered to stay away from Basdeo, Ahmad said.
He added that Iqbal would go to Basdeo’s workplace where she was employed as a domestic and make threats. Persons living in the area said that they would also see Basdeo’s former reputed husband searching for her in the village.
Ahmad also said that he and Iqbal were friends while neighbours said that the night prior to the murder, the two men were having drinks and socialising.
The couple had no children out of the common law union.
