… break into Mosque, Mandir, Church at Gay Park
BY ANDREW CARMICHAEL
Bandits over the past few weeks have forcefully made their way into three religious buildings at Gay Park, East Bank Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and took away valuable pieces of electronic devices, among other items.
The most recent incident occurred between Sunday night and Monday evening, at a Mosque at Gay Park. During that burglary, entry was made through an unsecured door. The perpetrator(s) climbed into the main part of the building which housed most of the valuable items belonging to the Mosque.
Imam of the Mosque, Boyie Mohammed, told Guyana Times that members would normally visit the building during the evening period, and on Monday afternoon when they did, they noticed something amiss.
“Things were not in place as we would have left them the previous night and when we looked for the amplifier that we would use to call the Azam with, it was gone. We started to look around and then we realised that there were other things missing. The prayer mats, speaker boxes which we bought recently at very exorbitant prices for the benefit of the Masjid; even that was gone.”
The amplifier was secured in a grill cage and bolted onto the wall. The bolts were unscrewed and the amplifier taken.
According to the Imam of the Providence/Gay Park Mosque, it is not the first time thieves broke into the building and stole items. Back in 2002, a generator valued at close to $1 million was stolen along with cooking utensils which were used for religious functions along with kitchen wear.
A man who resides a few houses away was arrested and placed before the courts for the crime but the case was subsequently dismissed for want of evidence.
“One time we would have bought material to do work on the Mosque and when we went back the next day all of the material gone. The surprising thing is that nobody knows anything; nobody sees anything. Nobody is willing to cooperate and this also happened at the Mandir that is close by and also with the Christian Church that is there… when you can go into a house of worship and steal, it means you have no fear of this world or fear of what will happen to you,” Muhammad added.
Meanwhile, President of the Gay Park Mosque Feroz Jaffarally is appealing to the person/s who stole from the Mosque to return the items. He related to this publication that all of the items stolen are used by worshipers on a daily basis.
