A 68-year-old woman was on Wednesday morning discovered dead with her throat slit at her Belle West, West Bank Demerara (WBD) home.

Ursilla Padarat called ‘Didi’, who celebrated her 68th birthday last Saturday, lived alone at her Masjid Street home. According to relatives, Padarat received approximately $123,000 Tuesday from her grandson, who resides overseas, to build a septic tank. Given her eagerness to have the septic tank constructed, she engaged a contractor who reportedly resides in the said community for an estimate to complete the job. However, when the contractor, whose name is unknown, arrived at the woman’s house early Wednesday morning, he discovered her sitting in a chair close to the door with a stab wound to her neck.

Relatives told Guyana Chronicle that the woman’s house was not ransacked, but all of her money and documents were taken. “The money she collected yesterday the person take, she pension money and she had some US (currency) there and she documents them. She had all them things in a bag,” said a relative who also noted that Padarat’s mobile phone was also removed by her killer.

When the Guyana Chronicle arrived on the scene just after 09:00hrs, police had arrested a resident of the community. The Guyana Chronicle understands that the man, whose name is unknown, was present when “a junkie” from the community threatened to “deal with” the pensioner. As news spread of the woman’s demise, relatives, friends and neighbours converged on the premises even as police gathered their evidence. “The contractor was here last night and it was he who come back this morning and find her dead…I really can’t say what is going on, but she called a relative that works at a hardware store around 8 o’clock last night to get up the stuff she needed but when the guy come here this morning, she was already dead,” said Naresh Singh, Padarat’s nephew.

He told the Guyana Chronicle that according to reports, the elderly woman’s neighbour–a male from the community–would usually clean her yard and they had some issues after he finished cleaning her yard Tuesday. “He said he would deal with her…that’s all what I hear, but as you can see the yard is clean,” said Singh who questioned why someone would want to kill his aunt.“I don’t understand this,” he remarked.

Her son-in-law said the woman would call her daughter daily but noted she did not call Wednesday morning. “She does call us…when me hear that thing me feel bad. That lady is not a bad lady, you ask anybody,” said the son-in-law. Relatives are of the opinion that whoever killed Padarat was known to her. They said the fact that they did not gain access to the woman’s home by force meant that she was comfortable enough to let them in.
“She does get some junkie boys; they would come to clean and she does cook for a boy name ‘Brother’ and she use to cook for the one name ‘Uncle’ who opened the door this morning,” said Padarat’s sister, Chandroutie Singh, who was for the most part inconsolable. Singh told the Guyana Chronicle that her mother was a “free-handed” woman who would help all in need. Investigations into the murder are continuing.