7-year-old boy’s throat slit …granny badly wounded during home invasion

Jun 06, 2026 News

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By Allyiah Allicock

(Kaieteur News) – The family of seven-year-old Adriel Aftab Mohamed was thrown into a state of mourning early Friday morning after he was found dead with his throat slashed in his Phase 3 Zeelugt New Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) home.

The deadly home invasion also left his 72-year-old great-grandmother, Halima Itwari, nursing injuries. She was admitted to the De Kinderen Regional Hospital.

According to a police report, the murder and attempted murder occurred around 04:45 hrs. on Friday, when the little Mohamed and the elderly, bedridden woman were home alone.

Police revealed that based on initial investigations, about 05:05hrs, a relative went to the home, where he discovered the 72-year-old woman injured and the child motionless in the house. The injured woman was rushed to the hospital was admitted and is in stable condition.

Ranks visited and processed the scene, and while examining the body of the child, injuries were observed. “A knife, suspected to have been used during the incident, was recovered at the scene and lodged,” the police reported, noting that several persons were questioned and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras are being reviewed as part of the investigation.

The police stated that efforts are being made to locate a lone suspect. Mohamed’s body is at the Ezekiel Funeral Home, where it awaits a post-mortem examination.

The little boy, who attended the Zeelugt Primary School, was described as an energetic and friendly person.

Speaking with the media at the scene, his uncle, Naseeb Mohamed said little Mohamed is his great nephew and the 72-year-old woman is his mother.

Naseeb explained that his wife was alerted by one of the neighbours that someone was in his mother’s house.

“One of the neighbours called my wife this morning, minutes to five and told her I must come down to check on my mother because somebody is in the house. And I came and when I came, I pushed the door and went inside, I put on the lights because the place was dark. I saw my mother lying on the ground, the first thought that came to my mind was that she was dead, and then I look up, a little more in the house I saw my great nephew on the ground,” the man recalled.

He said when he went over to his nephew, “I see he had a cut to his neck and the whole place was filled with blood, a lot of blood all over the place.” Seeing that his mother was alive, he alerted the neighbours to come over and stay with the child’s body, while he rushed his mother to the hospital for treatment.

The distressed man told reporters that he cannot understand the motive behind this brutal attack. “My mother is not a rich woman, and then she is 72-years-old and had stroke over a year now. I don’t know if it’s a robbery or they just come to molest her or whatever the case might be,” he said.

Naseeb recalled that on Thursday he took his mother to sort out some matters at the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and the 7-year-old boy was with them.

“I drop them home around 9:30hrs, we didn’t expect this, you don’t know these things would happen. This is just a really sad situation and in my family setting this is the first time something [of] this magnitude has ever happened,” the man related.

He mentioned that the child and the great grandmother reside there with his nephew (the child’s father) and his niece and her husband live next door. He shared that the child’s father went away to Essequibo to work.

“I don’t know if this person (the suspect) knows what’s going on, mek he come now, because maybe he know that my nephew not around because my nephew is living here. But both of the adult male is not around so the person had to know some information,” Naseeb opined.

He told reporters that he is pleased with the police response, he hopes that the person who committed the heinous crime is arrested and placed before the courts and his family gets justice.

Distraught relatives who were at the scene are trying to cope with the shocking news. The boy’s grandmother said her son is well known in the community because he often time visited the shop.

She explained that he helped to care for his great grandmother (her mother) who was unable to walk.

“He does deh with my mommy, my mom get stroke, she can’t walk, so he does climb pon a stool take she food out and give she fa eat, wipe she mouth, he does be there fa she all the time,” the devastated woman shared.

She noted her daughter, who lives next door, was at home with her daughters when she heard screams. The woman said she learnt that the Zeelugt Primary School student was awaken by noise in the house. He reportedly screamed for help and was attacked and killed.

Another female relative disclosed that the 72-year-old woman who was brutally stabbed told relatives that while she was being attacked, the intruder demanded money from her. The relative stated the elderly woman’s underwear was removed, that she suffered a hit to the face, has a cut on her jaw and was stabbed in the neck.

“Me son mean everything to me”

Meanwhile, a devastating Altab Mohamed, father of the boy told reporters, “Right now me aint get no feelings, me whole skin numb, I miss me son, I sorry I din deh hay to protect me son. The reason why me son stay home hay he alone because I got to go and get money.”

He said his son lives with him because he and the mother are separated. “I take he away from he mother because me aint want he grow with step father, so I wuk and tek care of me youth man. I just left he fa go and ketch this hustle and come again,” he explained.

Altab said he planned to return from Essequibo on Friday morning to collect his son, but his father (child’s grandfather) said he will collect him. “I said I gon go and collect this man this morning before he deh run, run ah road and thing knack he, I go fa collect he but me old man say watch I gon collect me grandson, so me just left it as duh,” he disclosed.

Upon hearing the news about his son, he said he caught the first boat from Essequibo and made his way home.

“Me son mean everything to me, I does rip me muscle to mek sure me youth man get nursing and go to school as a single parent,” a sad Mohamed expressed.

“I want justice for my son”

A Partnership for National Unity’s (APNU) Members of Parliament, Dr. Terrence Campbell and Dr. Dexter Todd visited the grieving family at their home. In an interview with the child’s mother, the grieving woman said all she wants is justice for her son.

She shared that even though she and his father have been separated for a while and he lives with him, she never stopped loving and looking out for him.  Questioning why someone would launch such a brutal attack on an innocent child, the tearful woman expressed, “how you could live with yourself, how you could watch a child and just swipe a knife across he neck? Who does do these things? This is my one and only son, I know he father take him away from me, yes, but I never stop loving my son.”

Following the news of the tragic incident, Minister of Home Affairs, Oneidge Walrond on Facebook extended condolences to the parents, siblings, and other relatives of the little boy. She also wished his great-grandmother a full and swift recovery.

Minister Waldron said that she was briefed on the matter, and that the Guyana Police Force has been directed to utilise every available resource in the investigation. “Every effort is being made to identify those responsible, bring them into custody, and ensure they face the full consequences of the law. The circumstances surrounding this crime demand a thorough and urgent response,” she said in her post.

“To the residents of Zeelugt and surrounding communities, I understand the fear and concern this tragedy has caused. When a child and an elderly woman can be attacked in their own home, the sense of safety that every family deserves is shaken. Be assured that this matter is being treated with the seriousness it warrants,” she added.

The Minister urged persons with information that may assist investigators to go to the nearest police station.

“Even the smallest detail may prove critical in securing justice for Adriel and his family. A family is grieving, a community is in mourning, and a young life has been taken far too soon. May God grant strength and comfort to Adriel’s family during this difficult time, and may his soul rest in peace,” she expressed.

Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, who was accompanied by Director of the Child Protection Agency (CPA), Levine Gouveia, visited the family of the boy where she offered words of comfort and support.

Minister Persaud assured the family that they would not have to face this difficult journey alone. She noted the Ministry will continue to provide psychosocial support, counselling, and any additional assistance needed to help them through this painful period.

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• Adriel Aftab Mohamed, bandits, murder, slit throat, Zeelugt New Housing Scheme

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