– suspect dies hours later

POLICE are probing a shocking case of alleged murder and arson that occurred in the early hours of Wednesday, September 3, 2025, at Lot 22 Second Street, Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara.

Dead is 50-year-old housewife, Paula Abraham, who was reportedly stabbed to death by her reputed husband, Ishwar Singh, a 46-year-old unemployed resident of the same address.
Singh later died while receiving medical treatment for burns he sustained during the incident.

According to investigators, Abraham, Singh, and their 24-year-old daughter, Preeta Singh, a security guard, lived together in the lower flat of a two-storey wooden and concrete house. Preeta told police that her father was a habitual drinker who frequently assaulted her mother and often threatened to kill her.
In the early hours of the morning, Preeta was awakened by her mother’s screams coming from the bedroom.

She said she quickly realised the house was on fire and fled through the southern door, raising an alarm. Neighbours and relatives rushed to the scene as flames engulfed parts of the building.
Preeta reported seeing a sofa in the hall on fire, which quickly spread through the structure. Moments later, Singh emerged from the northern door of the lower flat with burns about his body. The Guyana Fire Service was called in and managed to extinguish the blaze.

When the fire was brought under control, Abraham’s body was discovered lying motionless on a sponge mattress in her bedroom, clad in a yellow vest and black short pants. Police said she bore a stab wound to the left side of her neck and blood was visible on her clothing and bedding. Notably, neither her body nor the mattress showed signs of fire damage. She was pronounced dead at the scene by Dr. Walcott from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

Singh, meanwhile, was rushed to the GPHC by relatives under police guard. However, he succumbed to his injuries at around 10:10 hrs the same day. His body is now at the hospital’s mortuary awaiting a post-mortem examination.

The fire destroyed the upper flat of the building and partially damaged the lower flat. Several individuals from the neighbourhood have since been questioned, as investigations continue.