Robbers
strangle widow dead
 The house in which the woman resided. |
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Neighbours
said it appeared that Leila Avatar was strangled in her bed at Lot 200 Grove
Housing Scheme.
They said her
body was found lying across her bed, clad only in her underwear. Her hands and
feet were bound and her mouth gagged.
Blood was also
visible on her upper body.
Neighbours
said they went into the house at around 06:30 hours yesterday and made the
startling discovery after two children from the neighbourhood, who usually kept
her company at night, raised an alarm.
Ten-year-old
Reshma and her brother Latish, eight, were in the house when the men broke
in.
 Latish who was in the house at the time of the murder.  Reshma who was also in the house when the murder occurred.  The reaction of relatives and neighbours as the body of the woman is placed into the hearse from the Lyken's Funeral Home. |
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Others said
they heard nothing strange in the house to suggest that something was amiss
during the night.
The motive for
the murder appears to be robbery since residents said that Avatar received money
from a money transfer agency the previous day.
According to
neighbours, the two men entered the house by prising open a window on the lower
flat of the two-storeyed building.
After entering
the house, the men climbed the inside stairs and went into her bedroom through
the open door.
The window
through which the men got into the house is the only one on the lower flat
without bars.
Neighbours
said the men fled through the back of the yard.
They said
Avatar had been living alone since her husband passed away and she had no
children.
The two
children who were staying with her Monday night, were awakened when someone
sprinkled water in their faces, but they were not hurt during the
robbery.
Latish said
the only thing he remembered was "someone screaming".
As the hearse
bearing the body left the yard, family members began crying
uncontrollably.
Many neighbours told this newspaper that the widow was always quiet and polite to everyone and was always in her house around 19:00 hours.
