THE lifeless body of 76-year-old Carmine Ganesh of 121 Montrose, East Coast Demerara was yesterday found on the kitchen floor of the house at which she had been serving as a caretaker for some years now.

The pensioner and mother of six, who had lived alone on the premises, was discovered dead by her relatives, who had to jump the fence to gain access to the yard after they received information from her neighbours that she had not been seen for the day.

The Chronicle arrived at the location yesterday and was informed by her family members that they could not imagine who might have wanted to hurt the woman, even as they contended that it had to be someone with whom she had been familiar.

According to Yvonne Ganesh, one of the woman’s daughters, word was received that her mother had not been spotted for the day, and her relatives became very concerned since they were aware that she had been a very able bodied person and was always up and about the yard doing chores.

Yvonne said persons from the area would know when her mother is at home, because all the windows would be open, and even the door sometimes. She was quick to point out that her mother had never cultivated the habit of opening the gate to the premises to allow strangers inside.

When family members received the call, just before lunch yesterday, they immediately feared the worst; and their fears were confirmed after the fence had been scaled and the house entered. An alarm was immediately raised.

Family members told both this newspaper and police investigators that when they arrived at the premises, the bunch of keys to the property was hanging on the gate, and this confirms their suspicions that whoever murdered the woman had been let into the premises by her because she might have known them.

The blood at the crime scene appeared to be very fresh and not yet curdling, and family members are of the view that the woman might not have been dead long before she was observed absent from her yard.

The police are also of the view that the murder might have followed a robbery, since some sections of the bedroom were ransacked. The woman lived in the lower flat of the two storeyed home; the upper flat is vacant.

Persons in the area bemoaned the presence of several drug houses in the community of Montrose. They claim this encourages checkered characters unhindered movement up and down the community, and that those characters also commit petty crimes to support their drug habit.

The police are continuing their investigations into the matter.

By Leroy Smith