"I
was so nervous, I can't even remember opening the drawers",
she related.
The
man then forced her to open the wardrobe, which he ransacked and
then fled on foot.
The
other man who was grappling with her husband also fled.
Harold
Narine said that as they continued to fight, he hit the man with a
pan, and the bandit retaliated by hitting him in the head
repeatedly with a beer bottle.
His
wife tearfully said that she had worked hard to buy jewellery for
her children, only to have it all taken away from her in a couple
of minutes.
"I
worked hard to give my children what they had, I don't know if I
have the strength to start over."
During
the ordeal, the three children aged nine, eight and three years
old, hid in a chicken
at the back of the yard.
The
bandits, wearing caps pulled down in their faces, fled the yard on
foot, but according to neighbours they left in a waiting car which
was parked around the corner.
Narine
said some of the money would have been used to pay her bills
today.
She
has been operating the business for the past 10 years and was
robbed before in 2001.
Bandits
beat shop owner during East Ruimveldt robbery
•
children hide in fowl pen
Thirty-four-year-old Harold Narine had to seek medical
attention at the Georgetown Public Hospital after two gun toting
bandits beat him and robbed his family of close to a million
dollars in cash and jewelry at around 21:00 hours last night.
Narine was gun butted in his head when the bandits attacked the
East Ruimveldt shop he and his wife, Azeema, operate on Pineapple
Street, East Ruimveldt.
The bandits managed to escape, although a passing Impact patrol
responded immediately to the call for help by residents who
witnessed the robbery.
Up to late last night Narine was still being treated at the
hospital for three gaping wounds he sustained while trying to
protect his wife and three children from the attack.
According to Azeema Narine, the two gunmen entered her shop and
requested to purchase a case of beer. She said that at the time
she was attending to two other customers.
“I was selling and they come in and called for a case of
beer. It came up to $3,600 which they paid in full,” the woman
told this newspaper.
However, as her husband was about to open the door to deliver
the item, one of the bandits snatched him and forced him back into
the shop.
According to the woman, the men acted suspiciously shortly
before they committed the act.
“I became suspicious when I saw one of them whisper into the
other one ears.”
She said one of the bandits began beating her husband, while
the other held unto her and demanded money and jewelry.
“De other one pull me and ask, ‘Whey de money deh?'. I gave
them $8,000 that I had sold for the day, but he kept demanding
more,” the woman recalled.
She said the bandit took her into the house where she handed
over some more cash along with the family jewelry.
“I don't know if I gon able wuk and mek back all dem things.
I thought he would go after I give he de money, but he keep
demanding more,” Azeema said.
All the while, the bandit who had held up her husband kept
beating him.
“De one wha holding me husband telling he, ‘hustle you
sc..t',” the businesswoman told this newspaper.
The woman said her three children who were watching television,
hid in a chicken pen, after they realized that their parents were
being attacked.
“Look, I had to clean she off,” Azeema said, referring to
her baby daughter.
When the men were done they fled the scene, but not before
discharging two rounds from their firearm.
Residents who were nearby heard the gunshots and informed a
passing Impact patrol. However, by the time the patrol responded,
the bandits had already made good their escape.
The businesswoman
said that the entire episode lasted for about five minutes.
She said this was the second time that the business had been
robbed. But according to her, last night's events were the more
traumatizing of the two robberies.
When this newspaper visited the business, it was closed for the
night.
Investigations are continuing.