“I sorry I wasn’t here to protect me son” – father of 7-year-old found dead with throat slashed

…as great-grandmother battles for life after home invasion

The throat of a seven-year-old child was slashed, and his great-grandmother was stabbed in the neck during an apparent home invasion on Friday at their Phase 3, Zeelugt New Housing Scheme, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) home. The lifeless body of seven-year-old Adriel Aftab Mohamed was found lying in a pool of blood, while his great-grandmother was found stabbed in the neck and lying on the ground at about 05:05h on Friday. According to reports received, a relative went to the home, where he discovered the 72-year-old woman injured and the child motionless inside the house. The injured woman was taken to the De Kinderen Regional Hospital, where she was admitted as a patient. Her condition is listed as stable. On the other hand, the child suffered a gaping wound to his neck. A knife, suspected to have been used during the incident, was recovered at the scene.
At the scene, Naseeb Mohamed, the child’s uncle, explained that he was at home when he received a telephone call informing him that someone was in his mother’s home. He noted that when he arrived at the home, he pushed open the door, went inside, turned on the lights and first found his mother lying on the ground.

“Plenty of blood all over the place.”
“The first thought came to my mind, you know, like, she’s dead because she was ill… but then when I looked again, I saw my great-nephew on the ground. I went over to him and I looked at him. I see he had a cut to his neck. And the whole place was filled with blood, a lot of blood, plenty of blood all over the place.”
While he could not say what occurred, he related that the two adults who normally were in the house with his mother and the child had travelled to Essequibo for work. Further, he stated that they were able to access some CCTV footage from nearby residents, and it showed the lone person scaling the gate. He said he was unable to determine a motive for the brutal attack, noting that his mother is not a wealthy woman. He also revealed that she has been living with the effects of a stroke for more than a year. Mohamed said the last time he saw his nephew and mother was on Thursday morning after taking the elderly woman to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) to complete paperwork for survivor benefits following her husband’s death. He dropped them home around 09:30h and did not hear from them afterward. When he later rushed his injured mother to the hospital, her condition left her unable to speak.

“I sorry I wasn’t here.”
Meanwhile, the lad’s father, Altaf Mohamed, is living with the heartache that he was not there to protect his son. “Right now, like I numb, numb. I have no feelings on meh body… I sorry I wasn’t here to protect meh son… The reason why meh son stay home alone was because I had to go get money… I tek he away from he mother because meh aint want he grow up with he stepfather. I wuk and tek care of he.”
He added that he was supposed to collect his son on Thursday morning, but his father told him that he would have collected him instead. However, this all changed after he received a telephone call from his sister informing him that his son was murdered.

“When I get the news, I catch the first boat and come over… meh son mean everything to me; I does work hard to make sure he get everything he want… Now, I don’t know what I will do without he… It really hurt meh to know somebody would do this to a lil child… I want the Police do them work and get the person who do it,” the father stated with tears in his eyes.

Comfort and support
Meanwhile, following the tragedy on Friday, Human Services and Social Security Minister Dr Vindhya Persaud visited the child’s parents, grandparents and other relatives and offered words of comfort and support as they grapple with the unimaginable loss of a child whose life was cut short far too soon. In addition, the Child Care and Protection Agency (CPA) has been on the ground providing immediate assistance to the family. Persaud assured the family that they would not have to face this difficult journey alone, as the Ministry will continue to provide psychosocial support, counselling, and any additional assistance needed to help them through this painful period. The Minister also met with residents of the community, many of whom expressed shock, grief, and concern following the incident.
Meanwhile, the Police have since obtained CCTV footage, which has been reviewed, and are now spearheading efforts to locate and arrest the suspect.