Police have detained two persons for questioning as they continue to investigate the murder of 78-year-old woman, Ramdai Balkarran, whose body was discovered in her Paramakatoi Village, Region Eight home several days ago.
The Sunday Stabroek was reliably informed that the two men were arrested sometime yesterday at Kato Village. They were tasked with repairing a school fence in the village.
The body of Ramdai called “Jean”, a shopkeeper of Paramakatoi Village, North Pakaraimas was discovered early Thursday morning. There were bruises to her nose and forehead.
It is suspected that she was murdered between 19:30 hrs on Wednesday and 06:30 hrs on Thursday.
An autopsy later revealed that Ramdai had been suffocated and beaten.
It is suspected that Balkarran killer/s gained entry to her house by removing several louvres from a window. A mesh fence at the back of the yard had also been cut open.
In a telephone interview with the Sunday Stabroek yesterday, the dead woman’s husband, Basil Balkarran said he is demanding justice. He said he hopes the perpetrator of the crime is caught soon.
“I have to get justice. They can’t go into the comfort of people’s home and slaughter them,” Basil said.
According to Basil, hundreds of thousands of dollars was also stolen from Ramdai. “X amount of money. Going into the hundreds of thousands. But we cannot ascertain the exact amount,” he told this newspaper yesterday.
Basil explained to the Sunday Stabroek that he and his wife has been married since 1963. He said he spent all day Wednesday with her and in the evening, they spoke after which she retired to bed.
Basil said they own the mission house in Paramakatoi Village in which Ramdai was killed.
He related that after Ramdai went to bed, he went to his office which is situated in a building some 12 feet away from the mission house to get some work done. “I told my wife I didn’t get any rest whole day (Wednesday)…..So I said I am going across to the office because I had a wedding to do so I had to prepare,” he said. Ramdai is a Pastor.
However, upon venturing there, he said he was too tired and went to bed around 9pm. From time to time, Basil said he would normally sleep in the same building which houses his office.
About two hours after, he recalled hearing a strange noise but he wasn’t sure what it was or where it was coming from. “I put on my light and I cough, to inform whoever was around there that somebody is awake,” he said. After the noise subsided, he said he went back to sleep.
He said the family later heard from persons who were passing by a house nor far from the mission home that they heard someone saying “No. no. Don’t do it”.
“For some reason I didn’t hear my wife calling for help,” Basil told this newspaper.
The following morning, when he woke up and called for his wife, Basil got no response. He immediately raised an alarm and persons in the village discovered her body on the bed.
Previous reports had revealed that Balkarran’s son, Samuel Balkarran operates a grocery in the village. He left for Georgetown on Christmas Day leaving Ramdai and Basil behind.
