Riverview business woman, severely beaten and robbed family
The building where the family was stolen.
Kaieteur News – On Saturday, two robbers, one armed with a knife and the other with a handgun, beat a business woman and her family before escaping with their valuables.
According to a police report, the incident occurred at 12: 15hrs; the victims were Premkumarie Singh, 49, the businesswoman; her two daughters Nardai Singh, 29, Kuntie Singh, 24; and his eight-year-old grandson all from Riverview, Mahaica, Demerara East Coast.
Speaking to Kaieteur News, one of the victims, Kuntie, mentioned that she was in the store along with her mother, pregnant sister and nephew, when two men came in and asked if they were selling cigarettes. She explained that she had sold them the cigarettes but one of the men was taking time to find a change.
After paying, the men then asked for a lighter; when giving them the lighter, he noticed that one of them had his hand under the counter and was acting suspiciously. He said they next called for two Banks beers – while she was handing them the beer, one of the men called for Guinness instead. Kuntie said she gave the man the Guinness but noticed he still had his hand under the counter.
He said the suspect then pulled his hand from under the counter and pointed a gun at her. She then jumped through an opening at the counter and grabbed it by her neck and carried it to other members of her family who were in the store at the time. Kuntie remembered that the men demanded cash and jewelry from them. One of the suspects then hit her mother with a gun to her jaw and continued to hit the older woman for her head.
Then they also attacked the two sisters, demanding that they hand over the jewelry they were wearing. After collecting the victims’ belongings, the men transported them to another part of the house and told them to lie down on the ground.
The suspect with the gun took the little boy to the upper apartment of the house where he asked him to hand over all the money. Kuntie reported that when her nephew told them there was no money in the rooms, the suspect demanded that the child check all the drawers, which also didn’t include any money.
Kuntie further explained that while the suspect and his nephew were coming downstairs, halfway downstairs the suspect kicked the child who had fallen to the bottom of the stairs. He further stated that the men then locked them in the lower apartment of the house and locked the grill. Kuntie added that the thieves then walked cautiously through the shop front and escaped in an unknown direction.
The victims then alerted their neighbors and later released them. Police were immediately notified of the incident and responded quickly, taking a report from the family. According to Kuntie, she received injuries to her neck and head, while her mother received injuries to her jaw and face.
The police report states that $ 300,000 in cash was taken from the store, plus an amount of GT&T and Digicel phone cards. Premkumarie Singh also stole one gold ring and gold band worth $ 20,000 and one mobile phone; Nardai was stolen from her wedding band, and her gold chain valued at $ 46,000 and her cellphone; and Kuntie was robbed of two $ 30,000 gold rings and her gold chain.
The whole incident was captured on CCTV taken by the police. The victims were taken to hospital to seek medical attention, where they were treated and sent home. The matter is still under investigation.