Pensioner murdered on 85th birthday during home invasion

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of an 85-year-old woman who was killed in her Lot 131 Section B Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice home.

Dead is Sumintra Shaw called “Aunty Betty”. She would have celebrated her 85th birthday on Monday.
According to Police, the woman’s great-niece reported that two men, dressed in black and armed with knives, invaded Shaw’s home at about 03:00h on Monday morning.
Investigations revealed that Sawh lived alone in a two-storey wooden and concrete house but on Sunday afternoon her 37-year-old great-niece of Section D Bush Lot, visited her at about 16:45h.
The woman, who is a housewife, told investigators that at about 19:00h on Sunday evening, she and Sawh retired to bed. She said Sawh went to sleep in the front bedroom of the house and she in the back bedroom.
According to Police reports, at about 03:00h on Monday, the great-niece said she was awakened by a male who was in her room with a knife to her throat, demanding money.
Police said the woman in her statement said the man then took her out of the bedroom, at which point she saw another male suspect with Sawh in her bedroom.
She related that the home invader took her to the lower flat, placed her in a chair, and tied her with a sling.

The woman further said that while she was in the lower flat, she heard Sawh saying, “Don’t kill me granddaughter”.
Shortly after, the male who was with Sawh returned downstairs and both of them searched the lower flat. They then walked through the northern door of the lower flat which was open and escaped in an unknown direction.
Enquiries further revealed that the great-niece then untied herself and went to the upper flat to check on Sawh, where she saw her lying motionlessly in a pool of blood on her bed. She then raised an alarm.
Police said the great-niece claimed that Sawh had a handbag where she usually kept her money, identification card, pension book, and other articles, and the handbag was missing from her bedroom. According to her, Sawh had about $350,000 in the bag, of which she was saving to build her fence.
“When Police ranks arrived on the scene, they saw the body of Sawh lying on a bed on her back. Blood stains were seen on the entire body and the bed. Six wounds were seen on her: one each on both sides of the temple, three on the forehead, and one to the back of the head,” Police said in a statement to the media on Monday.
The body was removed and escorted to Fort Wellington Public Hospital, where it was pronounced dead on arrival. The body was then escorted to Bailey’s Funeral Parlour, awaiting post-mortem examination.
Meanwhile, abrasions were seen on the great-niece’s neck and right hand. She claimed that the suspect had injured her and she was escorted to Fort Wellington Public Hospital. An investigation has been launched.