Couple killed in Cumuto home invasion

TIGHT-knit villagers in the serene and picturesque Guatapajaro Road, off Caratal Road community in Cumuto were sent into mourning and expressed their sadness, anger and frustration after a 60-year-old attorney and her 67-year-old husband were found dead, bound and gagged, in their home on the night of January 9.

The couple has been identified as Kumari Baksh and Nasheed Baksh, a law clerk for his wife.

Police said around 7.15 pm on January 9 a relative arrived at the Baksh's house to check on them.

The relative saw that the house had no electricity. She entered and found the house ransacked.

A further search led to the discovery of Baksh who was lying in a pool of blood in the living room. Nasheed was found in a bedroom, lying face down on a bed.

Senior police in the homicide division said robbery was the motive for the murders.

However, Newsday understands police at the scene said, while the house was ransacked, nothing appeared to be stolen.

Newsday visited Caratal Road on January 10 and saw the two-storey, light-green house where the incident took place.

The neighbourhood was quiet, its silence broken only by the voices of media personnel and the occasional passing car – mostly belonging to neighbours returning home or heading to their lands to tend to their crops.

Newsday understands that a T&TEC electricity metre was stolen from the house.

T&TEC officials at the scene told the media that the metre was not found and it would take at least a week to find out when it was disconnected.

One of Nasheed's relatives who lives in the community, was shocked when told of the incident, as he was previously unaware of their deaths.

He said he had gotten up at 4 am to start his day and was cutting grass. When he got back to his house around 11.15 am, the media broke the news to him.

He wished to stay anonymous, as he was hesitant to speak to the media owing to the nature of the crime and fears for his safety.

"That is most alarming..." he began, but could not finish his sentence owing to the shock.

Asked about the type of people Kumari and Nasheed were, he said, "He was a very good person, very religious person. He more religious than me, performing salat – praying five times a day in the Islamic faith. Me, I does pray from my heart.

"Nasheed even performed Hajj – a yearly Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, which is central to Muslim belief."

Both Kumari and Nasheed were Muslim.

He said the couple had two children who did not live with them.

Villagers sad, frustrated

The media stopped a neighbour driving home and asked if he knew the couple. He too, wished to remain anonymous.

"I living in the community for the past 40 years and it is quiet. Everybody nice, it's a family community.

"They were real nice, humble, quiet and respectable people. They were very caring and sharing with whatever they had. It is a sad day for the people of Guatapajaro."

The man said he had a sleepless night when he heard the news of the incident.

"I found out around 2 am this morning and it was shocking and frightening."

At a business place on Caratal Road, a group of people gathered speaking of the incident.

They too told Newsday they too wished to stay anonymous.

One woman continued the positive sentiments shared by other couple.

"They were very nice people in the district, very quiet people. The man would come here and purchase things, we'll make jokes and laugh."

She said as a resident and business owner she had increased fears for her safety, but admitted that the police occasionally patrolled the area.

"We have a loving community inside here. They born and grow up in here and I can't say nothing bad about them."

She said the state of crime was frustrating and left her uneasy

"It is terrible. What is going on in this country? Everyday it have crime.

"In a quiet village like this?"

Some other ladies gathered at the business place, happened to be a "sort of family" of Nasheed.

They said he was always joking with them whenever he saw them. They too were distraught.

"I didn't sleep whole night last night. I ain't eat nothing."

Attorneys mourn Kumari

Ronald Daniels, an attorney from Guyana, shared a photograph of himself with Kumari and Nasheed, accompanied by a note on Facebook on January 10.

"The most devastating news ever. You guys could not have deserved this. You were both the sweetest ever. I owe so much to you both."

Daniels said Kumari and her husband had relinquished their savings to ensure he complete law school. They also assisted in furnishing his office in TT.

"(They were) always ready and willing to assist in any way. I know of nothing that undermines their integrity. Kumari checks up on me virtually every day. This cuts deeply."

Newsday also contacted Daniels by WhatsApp for him to elaborate on their contributions to his life.

He sent a Facebook post from October 2017, which celebrated and appreciated Kumari and Nasheed.

Daniels said he left Guyana in 2012 for Hugh Wooding with the promise of a full scholarship. His sponsor's financial circumstances changed and he was left with only a partial scholarship.

He said he was unable to complete his first year payment and the sum required for the second year.

"When the final year list of students was posted, naturally my name was not on that list. Kumari telephoned me and inquired why my name was not on the list.

"I communicated to her my plight. She committed there on the telephone to extend to me a generous interest-free loan which I would discharge within a certain time after I became an attorney."

Daniels began working three months after being called to the Bar.

"When I got my office, Kumari presented me with a host of stationery for my office (the bulk of which I still have). The chair which I am sitting on in my home office as I pen this piece was a gift from Kumari to outfit my office with when I moved in. Her husband whose heart is as big as hers transported my desk to my office (and the chair upon which I’m presently sitting).

"I have since liquidated my loan from Kumari, albeit a good couple of months after my initial timeline to do so. She never reminded me of my debt to her.

"Whenever I complained about not having met my timeline, she said to take my time. She even ventured to say that she knows the contents of my character and has every confidence that I will honour my word."

MP for Barataria/San Juan and attorney Saddam Hosein also expressed his sorrow of the incident.

"This news rocked me to the core. Kumari was such a soft spoken, gentle, caring, kind and compassionate woman. Her Imaan was strong which dictated the manner she interacted with her colleagues.

"Last November we all celebrated our 10 year call to the Bar. She was a brilliant Attorney, mastering the field of Probate and Conveyancing, whom I leaned on for guidance at times. Always wearing a warm and welcoming smile on her face. Kumari you will truly be missed and I pray your family get justice for this atrocity."

The couple was the sixth and seventh murder in the country for the year.