Slain businesswoman buried amidst calls for arrests

Co-owner of ‘Boyo's Variety Store, Shairool Persaud, called ‘Buck,' was yesterday laid to rest at the La Grange cemetery.

Wrapped in white cloth in a plain wooden structure, the remains of the Regent Street businesswoman were taken to the La Grange Mosque for Jaanaza.

 

Hundreds, including those from the business community, turned up at the Masjid to view the body. However, because of Muslim beliefs, this was disallowed.

That, nonetheless, did not hinder those gathered there from offering a prayer for the mother of two who was killed on Tuesday. Persaud was shot dead in broad daylight at her business place, Boyo's Variety Store on Regent Street , after gunmen invaded the premises.

                Dead: Sharool Persaud                                 Dead: Azimoon Ally

   

Unsolved murders

 

The woman, who hails from La Jalousie, West Coast Demerara, was shot four times by a gunman who was armed with a 9mm pistol, after she reportedly put up a struggle during an attempt to rob her.

Persaud was shot below her chin -- the bullet exiting at the back of her head -- in her back, and twice in her foot.

Police said that at around 11:40hrs on Tuesday, two men, one of whom was armed with a handgun, attacked the store.

Speaking with Kaieteur News following the Jaanaza yesterday, Head of the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana, Sheik Moen-Ul-Hack, said that the Muslim community is ‘demanding' that the police use their resources to solve the ‘many' unsolved murders in Guyana's society.

“We are very sad at the passing of our sister, Shairool; (in the same manner) we are sad also at the passing of all Guyanese who had their lives snuffed out in this manner…This particular incident we view as not only brazen but barefaced, given that time of the day, in the middle of the city, (that the gunmen could) carry out an act like that,” Moen-Ul-Hack said.

He added that the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG) is calling on the authorities, in particular the Guyana Police Force, to ‘do everything that is necessary to apprehend those who committed this murder.'

“We are demanding…and we know that the police have the ability when they wish to solve a crime…they do possess the resources to solve it; and we are calling on them to use those resources to find the criminals who committed this atrocity on this innocent woman and her family, who were living and working for an honest livelihood,” Moen-Ul-Hack added.

He noted that the Muslim community sees the loss of Shairool not only as a loss to the Muslim community, but also to the Guyanese community at large.

“How do you encourage investment in such a climate? How do you encourage tourists to come to your country when you have so many unsolved murders?

This is not good for us as a people who are striving to uphold discipline and decency, but, most importantly, it is not good for our country,” the CIOG head noted. Persaud leaves to mourn her husband, a nine-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son.

Police, meanwhile, said that intense investigations will continue until the perpetrators are apprehended

Friday 09-29-2006