BHAGWANDAI Deonarine, the 72-year-old woman whose burnt remains were found in her backyard Sunday evening last was the owner of the sprawling coconut estate named Plantation Hope just east of Weldaad, West Coast Berbice.

Relatives said that she had a longlasting relationship with the owner of the estate, who was popularly known as BQ, and took over after he died some time ago.

A source close to the woman recounted that she visited early Sunday evening, and saw that, unlike the normal situation of the lights being on and windows being opened, the house was in darkness. The windows were closed and there was no sign of occupancy.

She alerted others, and they contacted the Police, who responded, searched the yard and found the remains. Other persons who passed by the house during the day saw a fire in the backyard from around 11:00hrs the same day, but thought that it was garbage being burnt.

Chan Sookrah, the dead woman’s sister, said that Deonarine spoke with relatives on Phagwah Day and gave no indication that something was amiss. Relatives who entered the house said that they saw no signs of disturbance to indicate that robbery might have been the motive.