Kidnappers demand $1M for 3-year-old boy

The kidnappers of three-year-old Brian Bedase have demanded one million dollars for his safe release today. But the child’s father, contractor Deon Bedase, claims he has no money and does not know how he can pay that ransom. “Right now my ceilings, bathroom tiling, floorings and bedroom doors are incomplete. Everytime I get a little change I buy something. We have no money,” a teary-eyed Deon told Newsday at the family’s Adjam Road, Tacarigua home yesterday. “Between 9am and 9.30 am I received three calls from the kidnappers, in the first the kidnappers said we looked liked a rich family and wanted me to organise one million dollars by today. In the second call they said my son was looking ill and they wanted the money by today, on the third call I asked them if they had seen inside my house and realised I was not rich and did not have anything much, the kidnapper just replied they wanted the money by today and hung up. No time or drop-off point was given.”

According to reports, around 7.15pm on Monday Yasmin Bedase, the boy’s mother was in the kitchen when two men scaled a wall, grabbed her and demanded money and to know the whereabouts of her husband. The frightened woman took the two men, one masked, to the computer room where they held and bound  the husband’s hands, feet and mouth with duct-tape before taking him to the toilet where he was ordered to lie on the floor. At the same time Brian who was earlier playing by his grandmother Isadare Badla next door, ran into the house only to see his father lying on the ground and another man holding his mother at gunpoint and began screaming. One of the bandits then angrily ordered Yasmin to hush him. The shaking woman, still covering her son’s mouth was taken to different rooms where $300, phones and jewelry were taken. The bandits then requested more money and jewelry.

One of the men then bound her feet, hands and mouth with duct-tape and placed her in the bathroom. But not before one of the men grabbed Brian and said they would have to pay for him. The men then jumped over a wall and escaped, the same way they had entered. The mother managed to free herself and soon afterwards Deon was able to free himself. They both raised an alarm. Neighbours responded, but the kidnappers, who had cars parked at both ends of the street got away. The police were later contacted. “I want back my son, I doh have any money, my son recently had a fever and I do not know if he is being treated properly, please, give me back my child,” pleaded a shaking Yasmin. He and his brother Jason, two, are all I have.” Yasmin claims although one of the men had no mask she could not identify him. When Newsday visited the home, several family members and friends who gathered to give support confirmed that the family was not rich and the kidnappers had made a mistake. When contacted, officers of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad said they have no clues. Police said they were treating it as a robbery-turned-kidnapping.