Woman, 71, strangled and beaten to death

The mother of Peter Persaud, Production Manager at National Carnival Commission (NCC), was found strangled, and her face bashed in at her Maraval home on Tuesday afternoon.

Shiela Nabbie Paul, 71, a mother of five lived at Saddle Road, Boissiere, with her nephew Ashmead Ali.

She was last seen alive at about 2.30 pm by her neighbour Leah Skeete.

At about 4.30 pm on Tuesday, Russel Maharaj, who operates a soft drink depot at the front of the house where Paul lived, discovered the back door to the house open and the body of Paul lying in the living room of the house.

Her face appeared to have been bashed in.

The entire house was ransacked.

Officers of the St Clair Police Station were contacted. They visited the scene along with a District Medical Officer.

The body was ordered removed to the Forensic Science Centre.

An autopsy carried out yesterday revealed that death was due to strangulation.

The face of the victim was also bashed in and she was also beaten.

Yesterday, relatives of the dead woman described her as a well known person who spent her life giving to the needy.

Her son Peter Persaud said that his mother cooked meals at her home and gave to the poor. He is of the belief that the person who killed his mother was known to her.

An emotional Persaud said that the last time he saw his mother alive was on Sunday when he went to visit her.

“She sat in the gallery of the house with my wife Inga and spoke of how Maraval had changed. She was in such high spirits and happy, that I cannot believe that she is gone,” said Persaud.

The funeral for Paul will take place tomorrow at the Church of Assumption, Maraval.