Accomplice in ‘Aunty Betty’ murder said he clubbed her with a wood

BY Michael Jordan

Captured murder suspect Mohamed Ramzan Shaheed has given police a chilling account of how he clubbed 85-year- old Sumintra Sawh with a piece of wood as she slept, allegedly on the behest of a woman who wanted the old woman’s property.

The 48 year old Shaheed, called ‘Bhagee’, reportedly said he clubbed Ms. Sawh, called ‘Aunty Betty’ with a piece of wood after the woman, who is the victim’s relative, agreed to pay him to ‘get rid of’ Ms. Sawh. However, he claimed the woman failed to pay him.

Police are scheduled to hold a confrontation today with Saheed and the woman he has implicated.

Shaheed, who was arrested last Saturday at Bush Lot, Curentyne, allegedly said that he met the woman two Wednesdays ago at Bush Lot.

The relative reportedly said she was “getting put out from the house where she was currently living. The relative also allegedly said she wanted to go and live at Aunty Betty’s house, “but she had to get rid of Aunty Betty first.”

Shaheed allegedly said he “would do the work” and the woman agreed to pay him to kill ‘Aunty Betty.’

He allegedly then said he will ‘do it’ on Sunday night (November 27) and the relative must “leave the door open.”

That Sunday night, he allegedly took ‘a couple shots’ of rum in his verandah and at midnight (Monday, November 28) “he went over to Aunty Betty’s house and picked up a piece of wood from her yard.”

Entering Ms. Sawh’s house via the open door, Shaheed allegedly then went to the female relative, who was in a bedroom, and asked her to see if ‘Aunty Betty’ was asleep.

After being told she was, Shaheed said he entered the bedroom “and lash Aunty Betty four times in her head with the wood.”

He then left the room, threw the murder weapon in the hallway and told the relative “he done the wok” and she must give him the money.

But he reportedly left empty handed after the relative said “she ain’t get money yet.”

Shaheed, who lives next door to the victim, reportedly then went to his home where he took “a couple more shots of rum” and slept. He awoke around 4.00 a.m. on Monday, November 28 and heard the relative screaming that “thief man deh around hay,” and saw that a light was on in Aunty Betty’s house.

Shaheed claimed he became afraid and left his home on a bicycle, which he left at a woman’s house. From there, he travelled to a cousin’s house at Belvedere, Corentyne, where he “continued to drink rum.”

On Saturday, December 3, after consuming more rum, he returned to Bush Lot, where a resident told him he was wanted for ‘Aunty Betty’s’ murder.

The police then arrested him after being informed of his presence in the area.

Shaheed allegedly told investigators he went into hiding because “he was frighten when he hear that Aunty Betty died,” and he did not know what the woman who hired him did to the pensioner after he left.

A postmortem revealed that the Ms. Sawh suffered a fractured skull and sustained seven stab wounds to the head and face.

The man in his apparent confession to the police said very clearly that he did not use any knife or sharp object to inflict any wound on the elderly woman.

Last Friday, Roshanie Basdeo, the victim’s 37 year old niece, was charged with Ms. Sawh’s murder.