A Diamond Housing Scheme pensioner has lost vision in one of his eyes following a home invasion last week, when he and his wife were beaten by bandits, who robbed them of cash, jewellery and other valuables.
One armed bandit was caught in the act last Friday after police were alerted by a resident, who saw the bandits terrorising the elderly Diamond Housing Scheme couple.
Shivandra Sahadeo, 65, and his wife, Shamdai Sahadeo, were attacked by four men, armed with guns and a cutlass, around 10 am on Friday, however, police managed to apprehend one of the suspects at the premises.
Recalling the ordeal, Shamdai stated that she had just put her granddaughter down in the crib and as she made to close the door, she saw the four men standing in the room. She indicated that they had made their way into the house using the back verandah. Her daughter, Navita, speculated that they may have used a table located downstairs to gain access to the verandah.
It was also related that the men may have been hiding out in a property next door, which is usually overgrown with weeds and has a partially constructed building on site.
“By time I just put down this child to go and close the door, four of them deh in the room. I wondering how they meet in the room so fast, and then I start running now,” Shamdai recollected.
Shamdai related that three of them had their faces covered with cloth ripped from a t-shirt she had hung out to dry downstairs.
She raised an alarm, alerting her husband, who had been lounging in a hammock on the front verandah at the time.
Shivandra, who suffered a stroke some years ago, took some time getting out of the hammock because of his condition.
Unfortunately, he at first mistook his wife’s screams as a reaction to something minor.
“I heard screams but I know she frighten water frogs… But she scream more hard, so I thought it goh be some snake or something she see,” he said.
“…So I try to get out the hammock to see is what and to spray some repellant to chase them. When I get up, the man was just in front deh…,” he added.
“By the time I see them, I running in front to tell she bandit in the room and I meet almost to this door and the man hold me and chuck me and pull me inside and tell me shut me mouth.
By the time, they scramble he from the hammock and lick he down pon the ground. And he close the door,” Shamdai said, relating her version of events.
While those two bandits were outside with her and her husband, the other two stayed behind to ransack the bedroom.
Shamdai stated that she was dragged by the hair and one of the men started cuffing her.
She pointed to a bruise on her arm that was evidence of the attack. She said her attacker began demanding valuables in the process, and even enquiring about the whereabouts of a gun.
“…They drag me by the hair and telling me, where the money, where the money? Where the jewel…Where the gun? Me seh how me gon get gun, me husband nah wuk five years, he’s a pensioner, me ain got no money. He seh this big man know, this big man know where the money, and he start kicking he…,” she added.
Navita related that her father was stomped about the body, including to his chest, back and face, resulting in him losing vision in one eye as a consequence.
According to Shamdai, the baby started to cry and one of the bandits threatened to put her in the freezer if she did not tell him where the money was. She said she begged him not to do so, but he then proceeded to the kitchen to get a knife, saying he would “jook” her up if he did not get any money.
While the search continued, the couple was tied up in the living room.
All the while, the Sahadeos’ screams were drowned out by the loud music that was being played by a neighbour. Fortunately, another resident who had been cleaning at the time, had seen when the men jumped the fence to the yard and called the police.
That neighbour had also been witness to when the couple were pulled inside by the bandits.
The bandits’ ransacking of the Sahadeos’ house was cut short when police arrived and broke down the door, managing to capture one of the men. Shots were fired at the other three but they managed to get away.
The family said that police informed that the bandits are known to them and that they were released from prison two weeks ago.
While the man who was arrested was due to be charged on Monday, his arraignment was postponed due to the recent destruction of the Camp Street prison. The family is yet to hear about further developments in the matter.
