Relatives of murdered elderly women call for “hanging” of perpetrators

By Bibi Khatoon

Relatives and friends of two elderly women who were murdered last week are calling on President David Granger to implement the death penalty against those found guilty of the murders.

For those who gathered at the funeral service of 77-year-old Phylis Caesar and 88-year-old Constance Fraser at the South Road Full Gospel Assembly Church, it was hard to describe their tragic deaths, but there was consensus on the kind of women they were – loving, kind and God-fearing.

James Brown, a family friend of Caesar, spoke of the kind nature of the women, adding that they did not deserve to die in such “a senseless” manner. As such, he called on the Head of State to execute those found guilty by hanging—a call which was supported by those in the congregation.

“I want the President to know that… he does not believe in hang, is because there is nobody who wants the job. But I am volunteering…I want the job. If a suspect admitted that they do the killing…in the next two-three days, you come to me,” were the words of Brown, which were met with cheers and applause from members of the congregation.

Caesar was never married and had no children. However, Fraser was the mother of eight children, two of whom shared their tribute at today’s ceremony. She once lived in the United States and returned to live in Guyana, vowing never to step foot back in the US.

Constance’s daughter, Gem Fraser, in her tribute stated that she could not believe that her mother was killed in such a manner. “It took me a while, but I realized at 2:30 on Monday morning that I was an orphan, and I got angry,” the woman said as she read a message sent by her son.

Maggie Fraser, another relative said, “My cousin lived a life well lived,” adding that that legacy she left behind will live on.

Also present at the ceremony was Minister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence who expressed her sympathy on behalf of the government, pointing to the importance of weeding out violence of any kind.

Fraser was laid to rest at the St Sidwell’s Churchyard while Caesar, who was born at Manchester Village, Corentyne will be buried there tomorrow.

The bodies of the elderly women were found bound and gagged in their bedrooms on the morning of October 03, 2017. The gruesome discovery was made after church members visited the home to retrieve keys to the church—which are usually kept by one of the women.  The rooms in the home were also ransacked.

Post-mortems later confirmed that the women were strangled to death. Subsequently, a number of persons including the alleged mastermind who goes by many aliases including Christopher Persaud, Christopher Narine and Imran Khan were arrested.

News Room was also told that murder was not the intention of those who invaded the home of the women; they reportedly were there to rob the women, but something happened that caused them to commit the heinous act.