By Nafeeza Yahya

TWO armed and masked men, covered in mud and clad only in their underwear, invaded the Topoo, Village, Corentyne home of 58-year-old Gowchand Budhu, a security guard attached to the Albion Primary School and a livestock and poultry farmer, in what is believed to be an attempted robbery on Monday evening at about 20:30 hrs.The men pounced upon Budhu’s wife, who had just exited the shower in the lower flat of their East Berbice home, and began to brutally beat her. Apart from being gun-butted to the head, she was kicked in the back, beaten on both knees and punched in the face.

And Budhu, hearing her screams and sensing something was amiss, began loading his licensed firearm; but the bandits had hastened upstairs and, realizing Budhu was in position to defend his family, one of them hurriedly pumped four bullets into Budhu -– one on either side of his stomach, another to the lower abdomen and the last in the region of his ear.

Speaking with Guyana Chronicle, the still traumatized Parbattie Budhu tearfully said she could not remember how she got upstairs. She was in a delirious state and did not realize her husband was killed, but she learnt of his death the following morning. “I got very frightened,” she said of the incident.

She recalled hearing the gunshots that killed her husband. At that point, she screamed for help; “and them beat me”. Parbatie said she continued to cry for help, as the men quickly made their escape, empty-handed.

Her daughter, Kamla Budhu, 35, said her mother related to her that she in severe pain, and a CT scan was done to determine the extent of injuries to her head.

The daughter lives opposite her parents’ home, but was not at home at the time of the incident.
She recalled being in great shock and feeling very hurt when she arrived and saw her mother. “My mother was covered in blood and mud; it was a hurtful thing to see.

“This is so sad; my father was a hardworking man. I was so hurt to see my mother with her face beaten up and covered in blood, and she could barely talk”.

According to reports, the bandits gained entry to the premises after scaling a fence in the backyard. It is believed they had fallen into a pond, since they were covered in mud.

A neighbour, Chandradai Mangar, called “Nando”, also a Rural Constable attached to the Albion Police Station, said she heard the gunshots and became alarmed.
She related that the police responded about 15 minutes after and found the injured woman slumped in a chair whilst her husband lay on the floor in an unconscious state. He was subsequently pronounced dead on arrival at the Port Mourant Hospital, while Parbattie was taken to the Anamayah Memorial Hospital, where she was admitted.

No one has as yet been arrested but police are continuing their investigation into the incident.

Regional Chairman David Armogan visited the family and offer his sympathies.