A 49-year-old Councillor of the Grove/Diamond Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) is nursing several chop wounds to his head, neck and other parts of his body after he and his wife were robbed and brutally attacked in their house in the wee hours of Thursday.
Pooran Singh said he laid on the floor covered in blood after three bandits kicked down his door and brutally chopped him. The News Room understands that the bandits also tried to set Singh on fire with bottles of sanitising liquid which were in the house and attempted to suffocate his wife.
“The one who had the sharp long knife, that one catch my head and this is where I had three stitches,” Singh said as he gestured to the right side of his hairline.
The incident occurred at around 1:30h on Thursday at the flat concrete house where Singh lives with his wife. Singh, who works as a gardener during the week, said he retired to bed just after midnight Wednesday and at 01:00h Thursday, he was awoken by a loud noise.
“The noise jumped me out of my sleep and I jumped up really fast…and as I reached to the [bedroom] door, I saw the three persons already running into the house because they kicked the door open.”
He told the News Room that he attempted to block the bandits from entering his bedroom by pushing a wardrobe in their path but this did not help.
The bandits were all armed with cutlasses and improvised weapons; one of the cutlasses and a sharpened piece of steel were left at the house when they escaped.
Not prepared for such a tragic event, Singh said he had nothing to defend himself. As a result of his injuries and the loss of blood, Singh said: “I feel very dizzy like every now and that caused me not being able to work for the rest of the week.”
The bandits tried to suffocate Singh’s wife, Asiyah Imanali.
“One of them came with a knife long from my elbow to my finger to stab me and me start pray and beg Allah to help me. When the man raised the knife to stab me, he said how he can’t [but] he get send to kill me and take all the money and jewel.
“Them [push] me on the bed and took another mattress and cover me and press it down on me so I won’t get up,” she told the News Room.
Asiyah suffers from a broken right leg and as such, could not move from the bed.
The bandits ransacked the house and managed to steal $150,000 in cash and a container with jewellery along with family heirlooms. They also stole a bag of old clothing which were packed for Singh to use for work along with a television set.
The entire ordeal lasted for about 15 minutes, but for the couple, it felt like a lifetime.
“Me feel really break down but me got to still thank Allah that me and my husband still got we life because them come to kill the both ah we,” Asiyah said.
Asiyah was in the catering business but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the business has flopped. Meanwhile, Singh only works twice weekly as a gardener, also due to the pandemic.
Anyone willing to assist the family can contact +592- 644 – 9691.
