Murder/suicide stuns Freeport

RASHEED HOSEIN, the 42-year-old Freeport taxi-driver who shot his wife Sadia Sooknanan, 41, to death, and then turned the gun on himself on Monday afternoon, believed that the Freeport police were looking for him. He also believed that his common-law wife had lodged a report of attempted rape at the nearby police station causing him to flee to bushes behind his house, where he had been hiding since Saturday. Faced with the fear of being arrested, Rasheed Hosein, secured a sawed-off shotgun, and waited for his wife to bring him dinner in the bushes where he was hiding. He fired two shots at her, striking her in the left leg and right chest.

He then pointed the gun to his abdomen and fired the fatal shot which ended his life. A party of officers led by Snr Supt Farrel, ASP Fredericks, Sgts Housend, Balram and Ag Sgt Ajith Persad as well as District Medical Officer Dr Vishnu Geelal went to the scene. The bodies were found down a hill at the back of the wooden home of the victims. Residents of Lime Fruit Road, Freeport, yesterday expressed shock and outrage at the murder/suicide in their village, since they claimed that the killer always appeared to be docile. Relatives of the dead woman said that she was living with the killer for the past eight years. She was also a mother of four. Newsday learnt that on Saturday, Hosein told a female relative that he would take her for chicken and chips in Chaguanas. Instead, he drove the rented car to a secluded area in Carlsen Field where he attempted to rape the relative. The teenager put up a fight with the man who threatened to shoot her with a sawed-off shotgun. When the man went to the trunk of the car to get the gun, the relative fled the scene. She reported the attack to Sadia Sooknanan. Hosein is reported to have become scared and felt that a report was made to the police. Police believe that the murder/suicide was planned by the taxi-driver.

The rented car which was supposed to be returned to the car rental company on Saturday was found abandoned in Carlsen Field on Monday. When Newsday visited the house of mourning yesterday, relatives of Sooknanan were preparing for her burial. Her eldest daughter, Elizabeth, said that her mother did not deserve such a horrible death. She added that her mother was a good person and a wonderful mother. Other relatives said that they have already indicated to relatives of Hosein that they do not want any part of his burial or funeral. They claimed that Sooknanan died an innocent death. A post-mortem carried out on the two bodies by Dr Hughvon Des Vignes at the Forensic Science Centre yesterday revealed that the couple died from gunshot injuries.