Woman, 74, murdered in San Fernando home

The Hindu temple next door to the home of Deokie Mongroo74 who was found dead by her husband. - Lincoln Holder
The Hindu temple next door to the home of Deokie Mongroo74 who was found dead by her husband. - Lincoln Holder

An elderly man who returned home from running some errands found his 74-year-old wife murdered on Wednesday.

Police investigators believe the killer strangled Deokie Meera Mongroo on the ground floor of the home she shared with her husband Ramjewan at Papourie Road, Diamond Village in San Fernando. The husband, a pensioner, is also in his 70s, relatives said.

Relatives said at around midmorning he went to run errands such as paying bills.

Around midday, he returned and found his wife's body.

Ramjewan Mongroo, found his wife Deokie Mongroo dead at their home along Papourie road, Diamond village San Fernando. - Lincoln Holder

He last saw Mongroo speaking to a man she knew. But when Ramjewan made the gruesome discovery, the man was nowhere to be found.

Relatives told Newsday Mongroo was the grandmother of four and mother of two adult children who live abroad.

She and her husband "visited their children regularly. But because of the covid19 pandemic, they could not travel this year.

"We do not know who did it or how it happened. In the past, they had tenants," said a relative who did not want her name published.

Mongroo, a devoted Hindu, lived next to a temple on one side, and an empty lot of land on the other.

No one in the area heard any screams.

"She was a praying woman, a very nice woman. She was fasting for Divali. Before covid, she would go in the temple for devotions," the relative said.

Mongroo’s nephew Anil told Newsday he was at work when he got the news.

"I don’t know if it was a robbery. I cannot say if anything was stolen. We heard in recent times that bandits robbed a supermarket in the area," Anil said.

Investigators from San Fernando CID, Homicide Bureau Region III and police from the Southern Division visited and searched for evidence and the killer.

Police believe footage from CCTV can help solve the murder.

Up to Wednesday evening, the killer remained at large.

Homicide Bureau Region III police are also investigating the shooting death of an Indian national on Tuesday night in Vistabella.

Crime scene investigators conducting their investigation at the home of murdered Deokie Mongroo 74, along Papourie road, Diamond village San Fernando. - Lincoln Holder

Shrikanth Iyer, 26, died behind the steering wheel of the Subaru car he was driving at Purcell Street near the apartment building where he lived. He worked at General Earth Movers Ltd.

Reports are shortly before 9 pm, residents heard gunshots and contacted police.

A video circulating on social media shows a gunman running towards the car and opening fire before the driver had a chance to park. The shooter ran off.

The car reversed, hitting a nearby parked car, then crashed into a concrete wall.

Police do not have a motive for the killing.

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