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Dec 29, 2023 News
Kaieteur News – Residents of Paramakatoi, Region Eight have expressed concern that one year since beloved elderly missionary Ramdai Balkarran called ‘Sister Jean,’ was found bound and gagged at her home, the woman’s brutal murder remains unsolved as no one was ever charged with the crime.
On the morning of December 29, 2022, the body of the 78-year-old Balkarran was discovered by her husband and her grandson, bound, gagged, and battered in her bedroom.
‘Sister Jean,’ as she was fondly called, and her husband, Reverend Basil Balkarran, served as Christian Missionaries for over 50 years at the Wesleyan Church located in Paramakatoi Village.
It is believed that the woman was beaten and murdered during a robbery since she and her husband operated a shop at their residence. A post-mortem examination later revealed that Sister Jean died from suffocation and blunt trauma. She also had bruises and cuts to her face.
The elderly woman was last seen alive around 19:30 hours on December 28, 2022 when she and her husband retired to bed after closing up their shop. Sister Jean headed to her home while her husband went to another house located in the same yard that is used for mediation and prayers.
The following morning, her husband called out to her but received no response. He then observed that several louvre panes were missing from a window at her home. The woman’s body was then discovered on her bed.
Kaieteur News reported that two men were detained by police days after the woman’s death. However, the police released the men. They could not get any information linking them or other individuals to the heinous killing of the veteran missionary.
On Thursday, residents of the village related that the woman’s death was fresh in their minds, one year later.
In a Facebook post on the page- The Voice of the Paramakatoi-Region 8- it was noted that sister Jean’s “presence, her beautiful smile and her generosity to everyone is being missed dearly, a soul taken from this earth, from her family, dear friends, the church and everyone in Region 8 and around. The community still grieves the loss.”
The residents called on the village council and the police to investigate the matter, even as they noted that Balkarran’s killers were still roaming free.
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