A farmer was fatally stabbed on Friday night during a suspected robbery at his Crabwood Creek, Upper Corentyne, Berbice home.
The man, Deoprakash Lalbachan, also known as ‘Deo’ and ‘Williams,’ 59, of Lot 22 Grant 1651, Crabwood Creek, a cash crop and poultry farmer, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Skeldon Public Hospital, minutes after 11 pm on Friday. He was stabbed five times about his body.
By last evening, police arrested a male suspect, who was said to be assisting with the investigation.
His widow, Nalinie Lalbachan, said that she was in the upper flat of her house, while her husband, a father of three, was in the lower flat when the fatal attack occurred, sometime around 10.30 pm.
She stated that Deoprakash was watching television and she assumed that he had fallen asleep. However, minutes to 11 pm, she heard him shout, “Nalinie! Come here! Them want to kill me! Them a bore me!” She said she thought her husband was having a nightmare, but after rushing downstairs, she saw that he was bleeding from his abdomen. “When me went to am, he say, ‘Them come! Them come for kill me!’ And that’s all.”
The woman recounted that she placed her husband to lay on the floor and alerted other residents, who assisted her in rushing him to the Skeldon Public Hospital, where his body is presently being kept, pending a post-mortem examination.
According to Nalinie, her husband, to whom she was married for 37 years, did not have any issues with anyone, and was a quiet, easygoing, kindhearted and helpful man.
“I didn’t see anything missing so far but my husband usually have his money and stuff in the drawer downstairs but there is nothing…I don’t know if they went by the drawer and that where he grab them or wah,” she stated.
She also noted that her husband was not able to give any details of the attack before his passing, as she found him just as he collapsed in the kitchen next to the cupboard.
Meanwhile, a police source told Stabroek News that they are investigating the matter as a possible robbery, since several bags filled with items from a fridge were found at the rear of Lalbachan’s house.
The source said that according to their investigation thus far, it is possible that it could have been a “kitchen thief” who was confronted and panicked. He theorised that the thief had broken into the kitchen through a window and was then confronted by Lalbachan, who was still in the kitchen at that time.
According to the source, the murder weapon, a knife, was discovered at the scene of the crime.
However, the source noted that other theories are also being investigated.
The police source additionally noted that footprints were observed at the rear of the deceased’s house and they continued through several neighbouring house lots and then over a fence and onto a nearby street. It is suspected that a single suspect could have carried out the attack barefooted.
The source further stated that the deceased man’s mother-in-law, who sleeps in a room adjoining the kitchen, was also questioned. However, the woman, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, did not recall witnessing anything.
Nalinie had stated that when she rushed downstairs, her mother was already awake, standing next to the now deceased man.
