Shot Bourda fruit vendor still in hospital

The fruit vendor who was on Sunday evening shot to her foot and robbed of $300,000 by two bandits at the Bourda Market remains hospitalised.

Sewdassie Jagmohan, 44, of Parika, East Bank Essequibo, was shot to the right foot in the attack. Jagmohan is currently admitted at the Woodlands Hospital, where she underwent surgery on Monday. As a result of the gunshot, doctors were forced to install steel from the woman’s waist down to the knee.

A police statement said the shooting occurred at about 11.30 pm, when Jagmohan was attacked by two men, one of whom was armed with a firearm, at Bourda Market.

Sewdassie Jagmohan
Sewdassie Jagmohan

Speaking from her hospital bed yesterday, Jagmohan said she believes she was targeted by persons who know her schedule.

The woman, who has been a vendor for over eight years, said she had never experienced such an ordeal before.

She recounted that she was attending to customers while her husband was a short distance away taking a nap. She said she saw two men walk past her stall but had no idea they were heading to a table, which had three bags, one of which contained the money. “I see the two boys pass the stall. I does usually ask anyone that pass what they shopping and for some reason I didn’t ask them,” Jagmohan said, while noting that the cash was being kept for the payment of fruits the following morning.

She said the men grabbed the bag with money and she resisted them, waking her husband in the process. They both fought with the men, one of whom fired a shot which hit Jagmohan to her foot. She was picked up and rushed to the hospital by her husband. She was told by other vendors that the men made good their escape on a motor cycle that was parked some distance away.

When Stabroek News visited the hospital yesterday, the woman was surrounded by a number of relatives, who expressed shock at the attack. They also urged authorities to look into such attacks, which they say have been on the increase recently.