Family pays tribute to mother murdered on Christmas Eve

Dec 25, 2010 News

By Michael Jordan

If Devi Fung and her siblings could have one Christmas wish granted, it would perhaps be that the person who killed their mother last Christmas Eve be brought to justice.
Mrs. Fung, who resides in Canada, and another overseas-based sister, returned to Guyana recently to honour their mother’s memory.
On December 24, 2009, their mom, 78-year-old Rajkumarie Mahadeo, was strangled and her body left on the parapet outside her yard at Lusignan, East Coast Demerara.
She was still wearing two gold rings and gold earrings when her body was found. Her two silver bangles were found nearby.
It is believed that she was attacked and slain while tending to her cows during the early hours of Christmas Eve.
Although some suspects were detained, her killer(s) were never positively identified.
“The reason I’m back in Guyana is for a special memorial service that Hindus hold before the year is up,” Mrs. Fung explained.
“To have it happen at this time, makes it difficult for me to get over it. For the sake of my children I try to push the memory aside.”
To them, their mother was extra special because it was she who single-handedly raised them when their father, Mohabir Mahadeo, was himself brutally murdered on June 25, 1973.

Mrs. Rajkumarie Mahadeo and her daughter, Devi Fung

In a memorial, one relative recalled that “her hands would be cramped from being in the water for hours catching shrimp. She would then have to face the hot sun or pouring rain selling in the markets so we could have food on the table.
“Despite our many hardships, you were the perfect role model for us…You were an exceptional mother, always living a life of honour, dignity grace and respect.”
An example of this was the fact that one of her sons, Indradeo Mohabir, has become an excellent teacher who won the ‘Outstanding Teacher of the Year’ award in Belize last November.
And as a way of showing their gratitude, the children had planned to give their 78-year-old mother a memorable Christmas in 2009.
“The plan was for her to go to stay with my sister in the US (during the holidays). She had wanted to see her third great-grandchild,” Mrs. Fung said.
“She would then have gone to Florida, California, Belize, and then to Canada with me.
“She was so excited. She had never seen her third great-grandchild.
“The sacrifices she made… it keeps haunting me. Now was the time for her to enjoy herself; it was our time to repay her.”
And although one of the suspects in their mother’s murder died suddenly, the family still wants to know for sure who her killers are. They have posted a reward for information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of the culprits.
“I need closure. We are still appealing to the public…the reward is still there.”