Brutal Belle West murder: Family pickets court, call for just as suspects face trial

Family and friends of 64-year-old Parbhudai Boodhram, also known as ‘Renie’, who was brutally murdered three weeks ago during a robbery at her Belle West home on the West Bank Demerara, picketed the Wales Magistrate’s Court on Monday, where the murder suspects appeared.

The family struggles to accept Boodhram’s murder, as the alleged mastermind is a family friend and the crime is believed to have been motivated by money the suspect owed to Boodhram.
Three men have so far been charged with Boodhram’s murder, 40-year-old Rohan Singh, a businessman of Belle West, Philbert Cush, and Kishan Narine. A fourth suspect, 31-year-old Yoemil Barrios called “Pepee”, a Venezuelan national who also resided at Belle West, is currently still being pursued.
Speaking with Guyana Times on Monday, Boodhram’s daughter, Kamini Barran, explained that both Singh and Barrios are known to her family, with Singh even affectionately calling Boodhram “mom”.
“I’ve known him like 12 years now,” Barran explained.
“Every day he used to be by my mother, he used to call my mother mom. When they came from Venezuela he and his wife and kids had nowhere to go and they spent six months living by my sister. After that they came in Belle West and my mother would feed them, clothe them, all my relatives in New York sent clothes for them because they had nothing.”
According to Barran, it was after Boodhram’s murder that it was discovered that Singh had owed Boodhram, and several other family members, large sums of money.
A Guyanese living abroad, Barran was originally scheduled to visit Guyana in January ahead of celebrations for her mother’s 65th birthday, she instead came for a funeral. Boodhram would have celebrated her 65th birthday on Sunday.
Barran explained that since the family was planning a huge celebration for Boodhram’s 65th birthday, Boodhram had indicated to Singh that she needed him to repay the money that he owed.
“My mom told my aunt that he had borrowed money from her. A lot of money. And because she had the puja [Hindu celebration], and I was coming she wanted her money, so we needed the money to do other stuff but he wasn’t paying her back,” Barran shared.
The family firmly believes that the murder was premeditated, and have continued to visit the court and follow the case to ensure justice is served for Boodhram.
“It’s very painful and I need justice. I really, really need justice. My mom’s time didn’t reach yet. She didn’t deserve to go like this,” she said.
Boodhram was murdered between 20:00h on January 24, and 08:00h January 25 at her residence after returning from assisting her husband at his tailoring business in the city.
Barran claimed that Singh contacted Boodhram and told her that she could stop at his grocery store to pick up her groceries on her return home. Singh, who also works as a taxi driver, was scheduled to drop Boodhram home after she picked up her groceries. However, while Singh initially indicated that he dropped Boodhram off at 20:30h on January 24 neighbours indicated that Boodhram never returned home that night.
During the investigations of Boodhram’s murder police found no signs of forced entry. Inside the home, Boodhram was found restrained with plastic cable zip ties and beaten severely about her face and body. The assailants ransacked the house, stealing her purse, jewellery, and approximately US$4,000 from a closet.
Barran said she still suffers from the trauma of seeing her mother’s murdered state.
“I couldn’t even recognize my mom. I recognized my mom from her clothes and I gave her a foot strap because of the pain in her foot and that is what she had on. Other than that I didn’t know that was my mom,” Barran said.