GAY, bisexual, trans-sexual and lesbian (GBTL) activist Miriam Edwards was on Tuesday evening robbed of a quantity of gold jewellery and a cell- phone at her home at Fort Ordinance Housing Scheme, East Canje Berbice.The Director of the Guyana Sex Work Coalition had just returned from a trip to Georgetown, and was sitting on her verandah whilst her two children were in a bedroom, when she was relieved of six gold rings, a gold chain valued at $200,000 and a cellular phone valued at $175,000.

The incident occurred around 20:15 hrs when a lad entered her yard carrying a gun. Edwards said she had at first thought it was one of the neighbours playing a prank, and she questioned what it was that his grandmother had sent him for. Instead of answering, the intruder, unmasked and about 17 years old, rushed up to her and demanded that she go into the house.

“He put the gun to my back, pushed me inside, and told me to shut up and give him everything that I got,” Edwards said. Having taken her belongings, the man walked out of the house and, joined by another teenager who was waiting at the gate, mounted a bicycle and rode away into the night.

Edwards says she did not raise an alarm until he was out of sight. She also noted that her immediate neighbours went into their houses and closed their doors when the man whipped out the gun.

Edwards said she remained quiet during the ordeal because she did not want her children involved, since the robber had a gun pointed at her.

She was taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital by the police, who arrived on the scene shortly after being alerted.
One man has since been arrested as the police investigation swings into high gear.