BASMATTIE Singh called “Lil Gal,” an 84-year-old resident of Black Bush Polder, Berbice, died Monday morning when a swarm of bees, believed to be the Africanised bees, attacked and stung her to death.

The mother of 10 formerly lived alone at Lot 39 Mibicuri North, Black Bush Polder, but one of her daughters, Omapattie Singh, and two grandchildren lived next door.
The woman was attacked around 08:00hrs and was already dead by the time the police and Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) officers arrived on the scene to render help, another daughter, Devika Ledra informed this newspaper.

A granddaughter tried to help by throwing a bucket of water on the woman but she ended up being stung as well.

Ledra remembers her mother as a very simple and down to earth woman, who worked hard in her earlier days as a seamstress and a vendor at the New Amsterdam Market; she sold fruits and vegetables.

She said her mother would always say that she loved living in her own house, and would always refuse her offer to move in with her and family.

The family is shocked at the manner in which Singh passed, as she was a strong woman who had no health issues. “No pressure, no sugar, no cholesterol, nothing! She was always up and about, and if she didn’t like my sister’s food, she’d go cook her own. I always imagined she’d die of old age in her sleep one day, so this was shocking to me.”
Singh, grandmother to 22 and great grandmother to seven, was married to Roopnarine Singh who died 34 years ago.