A West Berbice vendor is in critical condition after she and her husband were chopped by bandits during a home invasion yesterday that also saw their daughters being terrorised and robbed. One man is now in police custody.
The attack happened at about 3:45hrs at the home of Abdool Kadir, 47, and his wife Neeranie Kadir, 46, at No. 2 Village, West Coast Berbice. The couple was at the time preparing for the market and during the ordeal they were chopped about their bodies.
The police said that when they arrived on the scene they came under fire and there was an exchange of gunshots. Residents and the family however had a different version.
After the bandits escaped, the injured couple was rushed to the Fort Wellington Hospital. Abdool was treated and discharged while his wife was transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) where she was admitted and was scheduled to undergo surgery yesterday.
One of Neeranie’s hands was severely chopped in the region of her wrist. She also sustained chops about her body.
A visibly shaken Abdool with several chops on his head, forearm and another to his stomach spoke about the attack at his home during a visit by Stabroek News. He recalled getting up before 2:00 am but returning to his bed since he would usually be up by 3:15 am. Around 3 am Abdool said that he was up again and he was about to step off his bed when he was greeted by three men who had stormed the bottom flat of his house.
“I wake up about 3:00 am and about five minutes after, three man run in and start chap,” Kadir said. He added that the men proceeded to tie him to his bed and he was guarded by one of the men who was armed with a cutlass while the other two attacked his wife who was in the kitchen.
Kadir said that he raised an alarm and was calling for help from neighbours but no one came out as they were all afraid. However, after hearing the cries for help, Kadir said that a resident called the police.
As the men began lashing and chopping Neeranie, Kadir’s daughters Alissa, 19, and Sheneza, 21, who were at the time asleep in the upper flat were awakened by the commotion.
Alissa said that she and her sister rushed downstairs and were greeted by the two bandits who had their mother braced to the wall. The men then charged towards the sisters and one of them placed a gun to Alissa’s head and grabbed her hair while he demanded money.
The teen said that she told the armed man that there was no money but her response prompted a broadside from a cutlass by the other man. Her terrified sister quickly surrendered a pair of bangles and a gold chain to the bandit in a bid for Alissa’s release. Alissa was also relieved of a gold chain and a pair of bangles.
However, the brazen bandits continued to demand cash as the other man attacked Sheneza, also grabbing her hair. The teen related that the men dragged them by their hair and were attempting to take them to the upper flat when their mother used the opportunity to escape the blows.
This prompted the men to release the girls as they rushed after Neeranie. The man who was guarding Abdool also joined the chase. The woman was not fast enough to elude the men who caught up with her before she could have exited the gate. They continued to chop and beat her with the cutlasses, Alissa said.
Meanwhile, Abdool managed to untie himself from the bed and he scaled a back fence as he ran towards neighbours calling for help. However nobody came out.
The police arrived within ten minutes and begin firing shots in the air, Alissa recalled. By then the men were already in hiding. The police then stopped a car which was passing and asked the driver to transport the victims to the Fort Wellington Hospital
Although Alissa praised the police for responding promptly, she questioned whether their effort was good enough since neighbours claimed to have seen the men in close proximity while the police were right there.
A resident told Stabroek News that he was awakened by the sound of lashes and he suspected that the family was being attacked but he kept indoors for fear of his own life. He said that he heard about three gunshots and he peeped outside at once but did not see anybody.
Meanwhile, relatives are very dissatisfied and upset with the service which was provided by the staff at the Fort Wellington Hospital. Upon arrival, Sheneza said that relatives had to literally beat on a door to awaken a sleeping security guard. After the guard came out they had to wait for him to go and awaken sleeping nurses. Relatives said that they were left to wait for more than one hour before they were seen by a doctor.
Out of concern about their mother’s condition since she was bleeding profusely, her father opted to urge the nurse to offer attention to the woman but he was greeted with a rude response asking “if you hurry?” Sheneza said. Besides the rudeness and slothfulness, Sheneza said that the doctor and nurses proceeded to stitch the wounds without administering an anaesthetic.
“If you hear how them had me mother hollering inside deh…and when me father gone and ask them if them wouldn’t numb the area before them stitch them say no,” Shaneza added.
Since her mother was in need of urgent attention, Sheneza said that the doctor on duty tended to her while her father was left for about three hours on a bench in the hospital waiting to be looked at.
