Great-nephew of slain Siparia woman: It takes a village to care for elderly

A relative of Utilda Joseph, the 96-year-old woman who died during a robbery at her Siparia home, called on villages and communities to keep a watchful eye on their elderly inhabitants.

“They say it takes a village to raise a child but it also takes a village to care for the elderly,” said Carver Thompson, her great-nephew, at the Forensic Sciences Complex in St James on Monday. He said while elderly people have a responsibility to ensure they are close to people who could help them, younger people should actively find ways to take care of the elderly.

“A lot of old people who live by themselves put themselves at risk from people who may see them as a means of getting an easy dollar.

“Everyone is going to get old one day. And some of us are strong-headed and would like to have our independence. A lot of us, when we reach a certain age, we tend to put our families in homes. They don’t want that. They would rather stay home in their houses.”

Thompson said in Joseph’s case, the entire community looked out for her, while he helped with errands. He added that she would on occasion visit him at his Moruga home, but before long she would ask to be taken back to her own home. He described her as an independent and healthy old woman,.

“Since her son died of cancer four years ago, I was the person who had been taking care of her. I told her I don’t want her to go to the bank by herself, because people might take that as an opportunity and take advantage of her.

“On Sundays she likes to go to the market by herself.”

On Saturday, neighbours who usually would check on her noticed window panes missing from her house at Hillview Lane, Quarry Village. The neighbour’s son went in through one of the windows and opened the house for the neighbour.

They found Joseph dead inside. Her hands had been bound and she had a bruise on her lip.

An autopsy is expected to be done at the Forensic Science Centre in St James on Wednesday.

The murder toll for the year now stands at 101, as compared to 155 for the same period in 2020.