A POST-MORTEM examination was performed on Wednesday on the body of Jennifer Ann Mendonca of Plaisance, East Coast Demerara, by Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh who gave the cause of death as asphyxia due to strangulation and blunt trauma to the head.
Mendonca, 57, of Lot 41 Prince William Street, Plaisance was discovered dead in her home by neighbours with her hands and feet bound with duct tape to her bed last Friday.
Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle at the crime scene, the woman’s neighbour who would usually ‘lime’ with her each afternoon said that around 17:30 hrs that day they noticed that the woman was a no-show at the usual ‘lime and gaff’ that they would have each day.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said that she then began feeling strange since the woman was not known to leave her home. Contact was then made with her son who works at Banks DIH Limited to find out if his mother indicated that she was leaving to go out but the man replied in the negative.
The neighbours then waited to see if the woman would come strolling around the corner but as afternoon turned to night and they did not see her they became more worried.
It was then that another neighbour raised an alarm that the woman’s back door was open and persons should go and check to ensure that she was alright.
When two neighbours entered the house they realised that the woman was lying motionless on her bed with her hands and feet tied while a pillow was covering her face and her mouth was taped up. The house was also ransacked.
Persons in the area immediately telephoned the police who responded almost one hour later despite the close location of the police station to the home where the body was discovered. When the Guyana Chronicle visited last evening, persons gathered in shock at the passing of the woman and expressed their condemnation of whoever may be responsible for the dastardly act.
(By Asif Hakim)