An Albouystown shopkeeper was killed early Thursday morning after she and her husband were attacked by four home invaders, who robbed them of cash and jewellery.
Dead is 58-year-old Nalini Persaud, called ‘Nalo,’ who was the proprietor Nalo’s Variety Shop, which she operated from the bottom flat of her James and Non Pareil streets, Albouystown home.
According to neighbours, Persaud’s lifeless body, with a noose around the neck, was found on the top flat of the home, while her husband, Mahendra Rampersaud, also known as ‘Ricky,’ was found tied up in the bottom flat.
Police said the couple were attacked around 3 am by the four masked men, who entered the shop by ripping out a board from the northern wall of the lower flat of the building. The police added that Rampersaud was taken to the lower flat of the premises, where he was bound to a chair and his mouth duct-taped.
Rampersaud told Stabroek News that he and his wife were sleeping at the time of the break-in. They were awakened by the four men, two of whom were armed with guns. He recalled that they tied something around both his neck and his wife’s neck and then took him to the lower flat of the home.
Rampersaud, who was still shaken by what had occurred, said his wife was screaming throughout the entire ordeal. The man noted that he was tied up for a few hours until he was released by someone who came to the shop and saw that the door was opened. The person summoned Persaud’s son, Derek Francis, who lives next door, and began to free Rampersaud.
As Rampersaud was being freed, Francis arrived and proceeded to the bedroom, where he discovered his mother’s lifeless body, face down, on her bed
Rampersaud was later taken to the hospital, where he was treated for injuries to his arms and high blood pressure. He was subsequently discharged.
The four men who carried out the attack escaped with an undisclosed sum of cash and jewellery. Rampersaud was not able to assess the losses at the time he spoke with this newspaper.
Family members and neighbours are hopeful that the four men would be caught and brought to justice.
When Stabroek News visited the home yesterday, there were around two dozen persons, comprising relatives, family friends and neighbours, present, grieving the death of Persaud. The woman was described as a very kind and friendly person, who was well known and respected in the community. One woman, who identified herself as ‘Rasta,’ stated, “She was a woman with love, she came from nothing to something and it’s hard to know that you kill a woman for she own profit. She was a hard working woman.” (Shamar Meusa)
