A large
crowd turned out yesterday
for the funeral of the
mother slain when a gang
of masked men armed with high-powered
AK-47 assault rifles attacked
and robbed two families
last month at Mon Desir,
Canal Number Two, West
Bank Demerara.
FUNERAL
SERVICE: relatives
and others at the burial
yesterday of slain robbery
victim, Kowsilla Mahadeo.
One
of the bandits drowned
trying to escape after the
gang of more than a dozen
men attacked on the night
of October 24, but the
others were still at large
up to yesterday as
residents, family and
friends turned out in
their numbers for the
funeral of Kowsilla
Mahadeo, 56.
She
was buried at New Anglet
also in Canal Number Two
Polder shortly after 16:00
h.
AK-47
rifle
The
funeral service was
extremely sad for
Kowsilla's husband
Jagoonauth Mahadeo and her
son Churman, who survived
the attack by the AK-47
gang.
The
two collapsed several
times during the funeral
service and had to be held
by relatives while bhajans
(Hindu religious songs)
and hymns were being sung.
Kowsilla
was hospitalised for days
in the Intensive Care Unit
of the Georgetown Public
Hospital Corporation (GPHC)
before she succumbed to
her wounds, barely
conscious.
She
was shot in the chest,
thigh and ankle after the
bandits demanded more
money and jewellery.
Her
husband, Jagoonauth, 60,
was shot on his left arm
and Churman, 29, a taxi
driver, was struck several
blows.
The
father said Churman
returned home about 22:00
h and, after driving his
car into the yard, was
about to lock the gate
when he was confronted by
the attackers.
Shots
were fired at the car and
he was taken to the house
and told to tell his
mother, who was asleep in
the bottom flat, to open
the door for Police.
But
she did not obey the
command after Churman
screamed and she realised
they were under attack.
The
gunmen kicked open the
door, beat the husband and
shot his wife while their
son's four-year-old
daughter and his wife,
Sunita Lakraj, 30, hid
under a bed.
The
robbers ransacked the
premises and stole money
and jewellery in the 30
minutes they terrorized
the family.
Other
families were also
terrorized in the gunmen's
rampage.
Guns
used by the gang, have
been tied to the
assassination of
Agriculture Minister
Satyadeow Sawh in April
this year, Police
reported.
The
AK-47 rifle found strapped
to the body of one of the
men, who was found dead in
a canal two days after the
robbery, was one of the 30
reported missing from the
Camp Ayanganna, Georgetown
headquarters of the Guyana
Defence Force (GDF)
earlier this year, Police
reported.
The
links between the gang
which killed Minister Sawh,
two of his siblings and a
security guard, and the
gang came from ballistics
tests on shells found
after the Mon Desir
attack, Police said.
Saturday,
November 04, 2006