Non-Pareil murder: Family strife festered for years, dead woman’s sister claims

While headlines have highlighted the horrific murder of Jenny Mohammed—the Non Pareil, East Coast Demerara (ECD) woman who was allegedly stabbed, strangled, and dumped along a desolate stretch of the Eccles to Ogle Highway by her daughter and son-in-law—what remains untold is the web of deception and fear that preceded her death.

Now that Jenny’s 23-year-old daughter and the daughter’s common-law husband have confessed to the murder, Ishika is sharing a disturbing picture of what had apparently been building for years within the family.
The woman’s sister, Ishika Narine in an interview with this publication, related what she believes may have led to her sister being murdered.
The woman told this publication that the moment she was told Jenny was missing, her gut knew what the police hadn’t yet confirmed: “I immediately told [my husband] that they did something to my sister,” she said.
The woman revealed that Jenny and her daughter had been having issues for several years. She said that a few years ago, Jenny’s daughter met her now common-law husband, and they started dating.
After realising that the duo was in a serious relationship, Ishika claimed that her sister offered to “Nikah” the couple – a religious ceremony that formalises a Muslim marriage – but her daughter refused.
Ishika said that two years passed, and her sister had never heard from her daughter and was unaware of her whereabouts. She claimed that her sister was not even aware that her daughter had a child with the man in question.
However, one week and a half before her sister went missing, her daughter moved back into her house, claiming she had nowhere to go.
“… she just reached out to her mother randomly… so, they moved back into the house only one week”, the woman claimed. “On Monday, they had an issue, and my sister asked her to move out.”
“She was trying to tell her mother that she’s not a good mother,” Ishika added. “So, my sister told me she told her that if she’s not a good mother, then she needs to get out from her home. The Tuesday morning, I spoke to my sister at 10 o’clock in the morning. And I was in town. When I came back, I didn’t call on Wednesday. ‘Till Wednesday night, the father, who is my sister’s husband, called me to tell me that she is missing. So, I immediately told him that they did something to my sister.” She claimed that she was also told that her niece and her husband were nowhere to be found. A report was allegedly made at the Vigilance Police Station, but the woman said no efforts were made to find her sister.
“… the story had to be followed up from Cove and John [Police station] and it is the Cove and John Police that start looking into the matter”, she said.
While police investigations were ongoing, Ishika said the killers allegedly tried to fake Jenny’s presence through her Facebook account.
“They were commenting on my post, trying to make it look like she’s okay. They even went to the extent to send a message to [the news agency] to take down the post, or else they would take action,” she explained. “And then Monday, claimed her boyfriend’s uncle left the East Coast and came all the way to Berbice, take picture of my house, and call me, threatening that I should take down the post.”
But Ishika said she stood her ground.
She said that the breakthrough came only after the suspects, Jenny’s daughter and son-in-law, confessed and led police to the site where the dumped the woman’s body. The woman claimed that shortly after the duo was arrested, police visited Jenny’s Non Pareil home but found nothing suspicious at first glance; no signs of struggle, no disturbed soil in the yard.
That changed when officers later returned to the house and found suspected bloodstains on the walls, couch, and floor. More stains were found in a bedroom and kitchen. All of them had been wiped in an apparent effort to clean up, but tests confirmed it was human blood. Police secured the scene for forensic analysis.
Investigators also found a handwritten note, allegedly from Jenny, that raised further suspicions.
Further interviews were conducted on the woman’s daughter, husband, and son-in-law to which police said accounts were conflicting as to the deceased. Other relatives were interviewed and gave additional information to support the case of murder. Subsequent interviews and confrontations were held with the son-in-law and husband, where the son-in-law subsequently admitted and confirmed his role in the murder and disposal of the body.
All three suspects, including the woman’s husband, remain in custody as investigations continue, and a file is being put together for legal advice to be sought. Police later said the pair confessed to stabbing and strangling Jenny with a rope, before wrapping her body in a garbage bag and tarpaulin and dumping it along the highway. A knife believed to be the murder weapon was also recovered.
In the aftermath of Jenny’s murder, Ishika says she can’t help but think about what her sister wanted for her child. She said her sister only wanted what was best for her daughter. Now, Jenny is dead. Her daughter is in custody. And Ishika said she is left with a story no mother should ever have about her own child.