A Foulis family of three was last evening beaten and robbed of approximately $100,000 as they were preparing to go to church for a prayer session. Pastor Rohit Deonarine, his wife Nirmala, and their 12-year-old daughter were at their Lot 481 Twelfth Street, Foulis, East Coast Demerara home when the incident occurred.

According to Pastor Rohit, he was preparing for a prayer session at the Enmore Baptist Church. “I was preparing to go to church prayer meeting at approximately 7:30pm. We have a vehicle parked on the road, so I was taking that vehicle into the yard; and whilst parking it, this guy shouted ‘Come out of the car or I gon shoot you!’ I had the door already open and so I came out,” the injured man recounted.

Both Pastor Rohit and his wife were beaten to the head by the robbers, but they were not seriously injured.
The pastor explained that three men who appeared to be in their early 20s carried out the attack on his family. The men entered the two-storey house from the lower flat, which also houses a grocery shop. Deornarine’s wife had left the grilled door open for him to retrieve his Bible and other materials.

“Eventually, the guy hit me in my head and said ‘Give me the money!’ and the other one hit my wife and asked her, ‘Where is the money? Where is the money?’”

According to the 60-year-old pastor, the ordeal lasted for approximately five minutes. “They were lashing her in her head,” he recounted.

The Guyana Chronicle was informed by members of the Community Policing Group present at the Deonarines’ home, that a hammer belonging to the family was used by the bandits during the attack. A cutlass was also used by the bandits.

“I turned to the guy and asked ‘Why you hitting her? You’ll get the money,’ and he gave me another lash on my head. Eventually, she said the money was on the chair. One of them ran in, grabbed the money, showed the guy and they left.”

Meanwhile, police combed the area in search of the bandits. It was believed that one of the bandits was trapped in the upper flat of the house, but the police search came up empty-handed. However, two black toy guns were found in the house by the law enforcement ranks. The retrieved items were taken away by the police for testing.

Pastor Rohit and his wife were taken to the Woodlands Hospital, where they were treated.