Mum/wife of slain farmers defends them: My sons were pure

The wife and mother of three murder victims defended their names and characters, saying contrary to some media reports, they were neither extremists nor bomb-makers.

Satee Boodoo said. "My husband and children were not extremists or bomb-makers! They were strong men who stood up for themselves and had good values. I am a Hindu, and they were Muslims. They never drink, lime, or run any women,

"What else can I ask for from my children? They were pure. They never get any woman pregnant."

Boodoo found the bodies of her husband, 56-year-old Veeji, and their two sons Vidaharshan, 30, and Shreebharshan, 24, on Sunday. They had been shot and killed in the makeshift wooden structure off Connector Road, Palmyra, where the three farmers lived.

The front entrance has a half-door made of plywood, and the structure is surrounded by the family’s garden and a bushy field. The family planted corn and other crops and reared chickens nearby.

Veeji was also a retired chemist and previously worked in the oil industry.

"My husband and I married in 1988 under Hindu rites," said Boodoo.

She lives elsewhere with a surviving son. For the past five years, they moved back and forth, but Boodoo said the three spent more time at Connector Road.

They previously reared animals at their Gasparillo home. After residents complained about health issues, public health officials ordered the family to stop operations a few years ago.

Satee aslso complained about stories that her husband was an amputee.

"He had two hands and two legs. Our son Vidharshan lost his right leg in a car accident in 2016" Satee said.

Relatives last spoke to the three victims on Saturday at about 9 pm by phone. But when they tried contacting them on Sunday morning, all calls went unanswered.

Boodoo went to the house to check on them and found them dead, with gunshot wounds.

"The silence was overbearing when I arrived. The place was so quiet. I thought that maybe they were sleeping late because the rain was falling heavily.

"Then I saw them with flies on their bodies," Boodoo said.

"I lost my life when I found them. I will never be the same again.

"It is now my son and I."

The shack is on farmland, with no neighbours nearby. There are several connecting tracks which lead to Tarouba, including a back entrance to the Brian Lara Stadium, Reform Village, and Palmyra.

Boodoo said the three were always on the alert for bandits, but recently there had been a police presence in the area.

"They became less guarded when police started blocking cars from entering Connector Road in the night."

In 2017, police charged the three victims for having guns and ammunition. Veeji was convicted and fined. The case against his two deceased sons was pending in the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court.

Police do not have a motive for the killings.