Tenant dances and laughs after setting house ablaze

What is left of the gutted house

A fire on Tuesday night destroyed a two-storey wooden-and-concrete house at Lot 35 Reliance Abandon, East Canje, Berbice, after one of the tenants set the house ablaze.

“I feel that this whole thing was premeditated, and like he soak the house with kerosene or diesel and planned to kill the woman in the house, and then set it on fire. But the girl know he was in the house and came with two police, she did not go in herself. With how fast this house went up in flames, it’s possible that he soak it before,” said Kusilla Bridgemohan, caretaker of the property.

Bridgemohan said the couple, Vickey and Navini (only names given) both of Canefield, East Canje, had been renting the house for over 2 years now, but were always at odds with each other.
This publication understands that the man had made countless threats to kill the woman previously.

According to Bridgemohan, the couple’s contract expired in July last, and after they separated, Navini had asked the caretaker to renew her contract, since Vickey would not be living with her because of his erratic behaviour and constant threats to her.

Bridgemohan noted that she did not take the woman’s word to renew the contract, but allowed her to stay at the house for some time. However, even though Navini told her that the man would not be staying at the house, he was still seen there many days.

On Tuesday, Navini locked her house and went out. Vickey then went to the premises. According to neighbours, the man picked up a cutlass and began chopping at the padlock on the door to gain access into the house.

“Like he was drunk, because he come in and start singing in front the yard, then he blam open the gate and he find the cutlass downstairs, and he tek it and start chopping this padlock about 50 times to open it.

“Anyway, he go in the house and he deh talk talk, and he start one cursing. The girl came same time and was outside with two police, and he come out on the verandah and start threatening everybody, in the presence of the police, that he gon kill everybody around here.”

The caretaker said the man went into the house and picked up a glass table and a laptop, came outside and start pelting everything towards the woman who was standing in front of the gate with the two police officers, who were urging him to get out from the house.

Bridgemohan said while the man’s behaviour was obviously offensive, there wasn’t much they could’ve done to stop him, as he had a cutlass, and was threatening to kill everyone and burn down the house.

“My husband told him that he cannot do that, because it is not his house and his contract end, and he need to come out of the house. He start cursing my husband. Recently, my husband did heart surgery, and he start telling him how he got a second life and he should not speak.”

The woman said the two police called for backup, since the man became more furious, and they were not armed.

Bridgemohan said the man went back into the house, and re-emerged on the verandah with a piece of paper, and told everyone standing on the street that he would light the house on fire with that very paper.

“Nobody coulda go in, because he had his weapon and the police came unarmed, because they were just told that they needed to get him out of the house. Anyhow, by the time police backup came, the man light the paper on fire on the verandah, and laughing hard and dancing. Then he walk back inside the house and drop it. Like about two minutes after we see one big blaze coming from inside the house, and he just walk out.”

Bridgemohan stated that after stepping out of the burning house, Vickey stood on the street watching it go up in flames, and acted as though he knew nothing of what transpired.

The fire service arrived but could not save the burning house, as it was completely engulfed within minutes.

The police subsequently took the suspect into custody.

Efforts to have a word with the partner of the man were unsuccessful, as she was reluctant to speak.