'OH GOD, WHAT WE DO?'By Ralph Banwarie Saturday, February 4 2012
“O GOD, what we do?” These were the last words uttered by 17-year-old Amanda Pamponette of Valencia as she was being chopped to death around midnight on Thursday by four armed men, who were seen earlier hiding in the bush near her boyfriend’s home which is also in Valencia.
Pamponette’s boyfriend Joel John, who was with her at the time of the attack, was also severely chopped and up to press time last night, remained warded in critical condition at Sangre Grande District hospital.
The bloody attacks on the young couple reportedly stemmed from ongoing quarrels including death threats, between residents in the neighbourhood. Shamilla Moham-med, Amanda’s mother told Newsday that her family has made repeated reports to the police about some people who were harassing them for months, were threatening their lives and regularly pelted stones at the house at night.
“They even said they would set us up by placing guns and drugs in our house. We reported them to the Valencia police, who warned them over and over again to leave us alone. Up to Friday last week, we made a report. Now my child is dead and her friend is critical in hospital,” Mohammed said.
Police said that John was a fisherman and after fishing in Maracas, he took Amanda for a lime in Arima. On their way home, they stopped to buy chicken and chips and went to his home around midnight to partake of the meal. They didn’t have time to finish the meal, the remnants of which lay on the ground where the couple fell after the bloody attack. John’s house was said to be a stone’s throw away from Pamponette’s home where her mother and siblings heard her screams. They rushed over to the house to find the couple bleeding heavily. They called Valencia police and got quick response from PCs Wallace and Rajkumar, who placed the couple in their police vehicle and rushed them to the Sangre Grande hospital. Doctors performed emergency surgery but Amanda died. Joel is critical in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
Back at her Valencia home Mohammed said she and her family are “living in jail” and are afraid of more attacks. She called yesterday for swift justice and the resumption of hanging to deal with killers.
Police officers’ ASP Neville Sankar, Sgt Raymond Austin and others later arrested two suspects and last night were searching for two others. Pamponette’s murder, police said, was the 39th for this year.
