Mother, son tied up, beaten and strangled to death

A 75-year-old woman and her 55-year-old son were awakened from sleep early yesterday, beaten, tied up, gagged and strangled at their Saddle Road home in Maraval. The murders bring the number of persons murdered for the year to 184. Reports revealed that around midnight on Thursday, Jasso Maharaj and her son Ramnarine secured their mini-grocery — Pappys Pram — and retired to bed. An eyewitness told police that around midnight, he saw two men in the vicinity of the grocery. Police investigators believe the two men broke into the house, beat both mother and son, gagged them, tied them up and then strangled them.

The two killers ransacked the house and filled bags with household items, groceries, cigarettes and alcohol. Around 7 am yesterday, when the two failed to open for business, neighbour Gary Dumas became suspicious and alerted other neighbours. A check revealed the house had been broken into. The two bodies were found in a bedroom at the rear of the house. Officers of the Maraval Police Station were alerted and a party of officers led by Snr Supt Lennox Gonzales and homicide officers went to the scene. Two crocus bags containing some of the stolen items were found at the back of the house. When Newsday visited the scene of the double murder, residents expressed shock and outrage over the killings.

They described Jasso and her son as two popular people in the area, adding that mother and son provided newspapers for the Saddle Road area and opened their business at late hours to facilitate the people of the area. Dumas told Newsday the loss of the mother and son is a big blow to the people of Saddle Road. He called on the police to bring the perpetrators of the cruel act to justice. Police investigators told Newsday they were following several leads in the murders. The incident caused a traffic pile-up on Saddle Road, as motorists slowed down to catch a glimpse of the police activity around the murder scene. Several neighbours of the victims cried openly as the bodies were taken away by undertakers.