DEMERARA Bank employee, Sheema Mangar, 21, of Lot 675 Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, died yesterday afternoon at the St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital following severe injuries she sustained the previous afternoon when she was callously run over, literally, and dragged for several feet by a car transporting the man who, seconds before, snatched her mobile phone. The tragic incident occurred around 18:40 hrs Friday evening while Sheema, along with friends, were awaiting public transportation home, after leaving work, at the usually busy corner of Camp Street and North Road, Georgetown.
Relatives yesterday told the Chronicle that, at about 18:00 hrs Friday, Sheema’s mother telephoned her daughter to enquire of her location. Sheema reportedly told her mother she was waiting on a bus to go home. Grieving relatives said it was the last time Sheema spoke to her mother.
This newspaper was told that, around 18:40 hrs, a minibus stopped on North Road, near Camp Street, to pick up passengers.
Sheema’s two colleagues who were with her boarded the bus but as Sheema was attempting to enter, a man came up from behind and snatched her Blackberry phone.
Relatives said she ran after the thief, who went into a waiting yellow ‘taxi’, described as looking like a wagon. She was shouting “thief”, “thief” as she ran in front of the car in a valiant – and deadly – effort to prevent the phone thief from escaping.
But the car reportedly drove head-long into Sheema, callously running her over, and dragging her several feet away before speeding off.
Barely clinging to life, Sheema’s badly injured and broken body was picked up from the roadway and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPH) where she was listed as critical.
The young woman’s mother, Radica Thakor, told the Chronicle that, after it started to get dark, she began calling her daughter’s cell phone number repeatedly but got no answer, as the phone was “turned off”.
The woman related that it is habitual for her to call her daughter around the time she knows Sheema gets off from work and/or classes.
The woman said she subsequently received the news that her only daughter was involved in an accident and was lying unconscious at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
The woman said she rushed down to the GPHC where she saw her daughter’s broken body.
The woman said her daughter was crying out for pains and was slipping in and out of consciousness before she was moved to the Mercy hospital for treatment.
It was there that she succumbed to her injuries at about midday yesterday.
Relatives recalled that Mangar was the victim of another robbery earlier this year when her handbag and cellular phone was taken away by robbers.
She was described as the “angel of the family”, “a pretty person inside, out”, and someone who was “academically charged” and “strived for higher education”.
Sheema was said to be attending several classes after work and had been employed at the Demerara Bank for the past three years.
The grieving and distraught mother yesterday appealed to persons who may have witnessed the incident to come forward and volunteer information to the police for swift justice for her daughter’s death.
She wished that the perpetrators be brought to justice for such a brutal crime.
At Sheema’s home yesterday, scores of colleagues and others had gathered to offer condolences and comfort to the grieving parents and sibling.
Demerara Bank Manager, Mr. Pravin Daue, who was also at the victim’s home yesterday,  said the incident is indeed “a very sad one” and spoke of Sheema’s dedication to her job.
He described her as “a quiet, good person who was well-liked”.
It is unclear whether anyone has been arrested so far, as, up to press time, the police did not issue a statement on the incident. Efforts to contact Police spokesman, Ivelaw Whittaker yesterday also proved futile.