A 52-year-old woman of Good Hope, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) was brutally murdered sometime yesterday morning following a feud involving two villagers and her sons on Wednesday afternoon.
Waheeda Shamshudeen’s body bore chops wounds, including one that left a large “hole” to the left side of her head and in which a shirt was stuffed and one at the back of her neck.
Her daughter, Nabeela, who lives at Zeelugt, EBE, told Stabroek News that the left side of her mother’s face was also smashed in and was covered in “clot blood.”
She was found lying face-down with her head placed in a bag and her hands tied behind her back. She was also blind-folded and a chair covering was placed over her body.
Shamshudeen’s cellular phone, three ATM cards and a small amount of cash was missing from the home, but relatives are convinced that robbery was not the motive.
The suspects, one of whom is a nearby resident, and the other, a relative of her late former husband, had both threatened to kill her. They have been taken into custody in connection with the murder.
Nabeela’s husband Leon Parahu, a bus driver, made the gruesome discovery around 10 am yesterday when he stopped to pick her up to take her to Georgetown “get some things done.”
Parahu honked his horn several times and after he did not get a response, he sent his conductor, Reyaz to call her.
Believing that Shamshudeen could not hear him because the television was playing on the loudest volume, he decided to knock on the door.
The door opened slightly and he saw the body covered on the floor and thought it was one of the woman’s sons sleeping there.
He informed Parahu who went in the house and pulled off the covering, making the gruesome discovery. Blood also started to drain from under the covering.
He ran out hollering and informed the other neighbours and also contacted the police.
Nabeela said she last spoke to her mother around 5 pm on Wednesday and she (Shamshudeen) asked her if she would go to Georgetown with her.
She said her husband was supposed to pick her mother up first and then go for her. She was surprised when he told her he was taking her and her sister, who lives separately, to see their mother.
She had no idea her mother was murdered until she got to the scene and saw the police and a small crowd that had gathered. The police prevented them from entering the house.
She said neighbours did not hear any suspicious noise coming from the concrete house because the television was blaring and because all the windows were tightly closed.
The house belong to another son-in-law, Taahir, who paid Shamshudeen to cook and do other chores for him.
Taahir, a newspaper vendor, had left home around 3 am and when Parahu told him via a phone call what happened, he initially believed it was a joke.
Meanwhile, Nabeela said during the altercation on Wednesday, one of her brothers suffered a chop across the back and is currently hospitalized. When the police arrived at the scene, another brother was taken into custody.
Later, Shamshudeen asked one of her other sons to accompany her to the station and he too was arrested. It is not clear why the two suspects were not arrested after the altercation.
