-wife critically injured in bandit invasion at Haslington
FORTY–YEAR–OLD Chetram Bharrat of Haslington, East Coast Demerara was chopped to death last Friday; while his wife, Lomattie Ramdat, 36, sustained several lacerations administered by two men armed with cutlasses, and is in critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).A family member explained to this publication that the two cutlass-wielding bandits who invaded the Haslington New Scheme home of Bharrat and Lomattie by climbing through a window demanded cash and jewellery from their victims. And when Bharrat and Lomattie denied owning any despite the bandits’ insistence on receiving same, the bandits began ransacking the house to see what valuables they could find.

Apparently not finding anything of value, the bandits unleashed their fury on the hapless couple, raining chops on Bharrat that caused him to collapse in an unconscious heap on the floor.

Lomattie tried to help Bharrat, but the bandits turned their irate attention on her, firing chops to her face and hands, which caused several severe injuries, the family member said.

“When I saw the body (of Bharrat), it looked so minced up (that) all I could have done (was to) watch and continue to watch (stare in unbelief). It was as if I was looking at a movie. I was so shocked (that I) left in a state of dreaming. The wife was hollering ‘He dead! He dead!’ and nobody was trying to help (them),” the family member said.

Bharrat, who had worked as a fisherman in Suriname, had fathered two children whom he used to come home to see “on a holiday basis.” He had come home for the Easter Holidays, and had spent time with his children and family members.

Neighbours described Bharrat as having been an easy-going person who had always avoided trouble.
Ranks of the Guyana Police Force are investigating this gruesome incident.
By Asif Hakim