The thought of sleep is daunting for several residents of a Gasparillo community, where two families were attacked by arsonists in the last six months.
Yesterday’s firebombing of the home where Ministry of Works and Transport labourer Pradeep Singh lived was preceded by an attempt on his neighbour’s home back in March.
The 37-year-old said a fellow villager was trying to force him to move, but fears that the person has resorted to trying to kill him.
Further along Guaracara Street, another neighbour Elizabeth Lezama showed where workmen backfilled around her home, after threatening to demolish it.
The residents said the bitter feud over lands they rented for the past 50 years rages because someone claims to have full rights to the properties. However, the land has several owners. While that squabble over ownership takes place, their lives are at risk.
Singh said he was asleep around 2 am when he heard a glass break, followed by a crackling sound. Knowing that the foundation of his front staircase was weakening, he thought that fragments of stones were falling and rushed outside. Instead, he saw a light shining in his living room.
“I ran to the back entrance to see what’s going on. I saw the couch and curtains in flames, but it was not that big, so I went downstairs for the hose. By the time I reached back inside, the blaze was higher and I couldn’t do anything. I ran downstairs and drove my car out of the yard. My two dogs were loose so they ran outside,” Singh said.
He said several persons owned the land that his family and neighbours occupied it for the past 60 years.
But in recent times, he said a relative of the owners began trying to get them off the land that they paid for monthly.
Singh added because the owners were against this move, neighbours said the man began threatening them.
“When my sister passed away a year ago, my nephew, who used to talk to them, heard them saying that they have to get us out of here. He is the only one who is giving trouble.”
Lezama showed the backfill around her land, which covered her sewage tank at the back and a WASA fixture in front of her house. It has also blocked the drain, causing water to settle. She said if her family was not at home when the workmen began clearing the lands, their home would have been gone.
Lezama’s neighbour, who asked not to be identified, showed the burnt door and wall which the arsonist doused with an accelerant and lit in the attack last March.
It caused minor physical damage but had a mental and financial toll on the family. Since then, surveillance cameras, rottweilers and razor wire were all purchased as measures to secure their home.
With the latest incident, the families are fearful that they would lose their lives.
The matter has been reported to Gasparillo police officers, who are awaiting a report from the Fire Prevention Unit.