Latest update November 21st, 2024 1:00 AM
“Bicycle bandits” beat and rob elderly Berbice couple – cart off jewellery, other items
By Malisa Playter-Harry
An elderly couple was on Friday subjected to an armed robbery that left one of them nursing a battered face which required stitches.
The injured Somwattie Rajgopaul called “Soma”
Injured is 61-year-old Somwattie Rajgopaul called “Soma”. She sustained a broken nose with two stitches, injuries to both her eyes, marks to her neck from being choked and has pains to the right side of her torso from being stomped on repeatedly.
Reports are that just around 3:45 am Friday, while the woman and her husband, Samuel Rajgopaul, were asleep in separate rooms of their home, bandits were able to enter.
The woman said that she was aroused by shouts from her husband that thieves were in the home and for her to lock her bedroom door. However when she called out back to her husband, she soon after began hearing someone “banging down” her bedroom door which she was able to lock.
The door was eventually forced open and several armed men barged in and demanded jewellery and cash. According to reports, the woman told the intruders that she didn’t have what they wanted which prompted one of the bandits to place her on the ground after which he stomped on her face repeatedly. The others, this publication understands, started to ransack the bedroom and other parts of the house. After searching and taking a number of items, the bandits escaped.
The matter was reported to the police and when this publication arrived on the scene, the woman and her husband were relating the traumatic incident to investigators. At that point they still appeared to be in shock over the events that took place at their home. The injured “Soma” told Kaieteur News that was the first time she and her husband had such an experience. She admitted too that they are still scared that the men may strike again if the authorities do not act swiftly in apprehending them.
The bandits reportedly entered through this window
The couple’s home at Alness, Berbice
According to the worried woman, she decided to sleep in another room Friday night and had gotten up around 1:30 am to use the washroom. She said she then retired back to bed but was awoken by the sounds of her husband a few hours later yelling “me na get money and gold”. She stated that she thought he was just having a bad dream so she called out to him. He in response shouted “thief, thief, lock yuh door”. Soma said she became scared and immediately got up and locked her door but within seconds she heard a loud banging on the door.
“I was bracing from inside but dem break in the door and three ah dem come in and dem get me pon the ground, then dem ask me fuh gold and money and me tell dem me na get and the me raise up and grab one of dem mask wa he had on to take it off but he get more mad on me and he throw me down back pon the ground and start choke me and stomp up me face and head with he foot. Dem was fighting me to kill me like, you see when me turn if you see blood wa run down my face,” she related.
The bedroom door which was damaged by the intruders
During the brutal attack, there were other men armed with cutlasses ransacking the bedroom and other parts of the house, the woman said. The men reportedly found a box containing jewellery which they escaped with.
“When dem gone my husband run to me to see if me okay and then dem neighbours run over,” she said. According to the woman too, she was taken to the Port Mourant Hospital where she received approximately seven stitches to her face along with other treatment before she was sent home.
This publication understands that a quantity of jewellery valued at $500,000, including one gold chain marked Soma and a quantity of Brazilian jewellery were taken from the couple’s home. Also an iPhone 6, and one Blu cell phone valued at $4,000 were taken. “Soma” said the men also took a bottle of hand sanitizer, a pack of cigarette and a radio.
They were reportedly dressed in dark coloured clothing and masks. One was said to be armed with a gun while the others had cutlasses. The men, it is believed, entered through a side window after they removed the inner grill work.
Based on information provided to this publication by neighbours, who claimed they were awake and alert during the robbery, the men escaped on bicycles.
Police have since questioned persons in the area about the incident and subsequently, acting on information, went to Budhoo Street where a quantity of Brazilian jewellery was found.
Meanwhile, it is understood that armed men on bicycles also attempted to break into the home of another Alness resident that same night but were unsuccessful. They were reportedly caught on surveillance camera.
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