An 80-year-old pensioner is being hailed as a hero after she saved an 11-year-old boy from a brutal armed attack that left his father, Mahendra Samaroo, severely injured on Saturday morning.
The incident occurred around 10:00 a.m. while Samaroo was visiting a son’s residence in Rose Hall. Samaroo reported that he was suddenly confronted by a gang of approximately nine men armed with cutlasses. According to the victim, one of the assailants drew a firearm and discharged multiple shots at him and his son.
In the ensuing chaos, Samaroo managed to shove his son into a nearby yard before fleeing from the attackers. During the pursuit, Samaroo was cornered and suffered multiple chop wounds to his head, left hand, and fingers. He eventually managed to escape his assailants by hiding in a nearby bathroom.
The 11-year-old boy’s life was spared due to the quick thinking of an elderly woman living nearby. Seeing the danger, the pensioner immediately ushered the child into an old freezer to hide him from the advancing attackers.
“She take my son and hide he in an old freezer, or else I don’t know what would have happened to he,” a grateful Samaroo told Kaieteur News. “If it wasn’t for that lady, he would be a dead man.”
Samaroo remains baffled by the unprovoked assault, stating he has no known conflicts that would warrant such violence. The young boy remains traumatized by the ordeal.
This attack is reportedly linked to a larger act of violence in the area on Saturday. Social media footage has captured the same group of men pursuing another individual, who was eventually overtaken in front of Poonai’s Pharmacy and subjected to a brutal beating with cutlasses. Police have launched an investigation into the incidents, which have left the Rose Hall community on edge.
