Members of a Mayaro family say it is a miracle they are still alive after a relative firebombed their home early Monday morning.
Anisha Bahadoor, 34, suffered second-degree burns to her legs and is warded at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex. She and other members of her family, including her parents, Peter, 71, and Sharon, 52, brother Amit, 33, and her children, ages nine and four, are homeless as the house was completely gutted.
Bahadoor’s sister Anusha, 27, and her nine-month-old baby, who were spending the Divali weekend with the family, also escaped the blaze.
The family was asleep at their Mafeking Village home when the relative launched his attack.
Bahadoor, her two children and her sister were asleep in one bedroom while the baby was in another room with their mother.
Around 2.30 am, the sisters heard a knocking sound on the window. When Bahadoor looked outside, the relative sprayed gasoline on her, then threw a flambeau into the bedroom.
Bahadoor caught on fire. Her sister quickly wrapped her with a blanket and she began rolling on the ground. Anusha then grabbed the two children and ran out of the house.
Recounting the harrowing ordeal, Amit said he ran back into the house to rescue his parents. He said he was in his room when he heard his sisters screaming his name and alerting them that the house was on fire.
He said he told everyone to run through the back door, not knowing it was also on fire. However, they escaped unhurt.
He said his sister ran out of the house “under flames”. When he came out of the house, he saw the relative with a bucket containing flambeaus and bottles breaking a window to his mother’s bedroom and spraying gas while cursing and threatening to kill everyone in the house.
Amit said he stopped him before he ran back into the burning house to ensure everyone got out safely. He saw his mother and told her to run through the back door. His father was standing in the living room area.
“He was in shock and crying. He thought his grandchildren were still on the bed. He say if his family burning, he burning with them,” he said
Amit said he reassured his father that everyone got out and he and his sister pulled him out of the house.
“When we came out, the house shattered and blow up,” he said.
Amit said the suspect was still near the house so he grabbed him and took him to safety. In the process, Amit’s hair and beard caught fire and he suffered minor burns on his hands.
He explained: “We are Christians and we don’t want to be responsible for someone’s death. I forgive him. We just want to get over this.”
He said he believes God used the baby as their angel as they were not sleeping soundly because the infant kept crying.
“I think it was a miracle,” he said.
Amit said his father, who worked as a gardener and a woodworker, struggled for years to build the four-bedroom house.
He said because they lived in a flood-prone area, they constructed an upper floor with two bedrooms. Damage to the house and its contents, which were not insured, has been estimated at $500,000.
The family believes the attack was triggered by a restraining order that was recently served on the suspect.
A 61-year-old relative was arrested at the scene and is expected to be charged with arson and attempted murder. Officers from the Mayaro CID and Fire Services are continuing investigations.
Mayaro MP Rushton Paray, who met with the family at his office yesterday, said the incident left him and others in the community “in a state of shock and sorrow.”
He said he is working to expedite state support through various channels, including self-help initiatives, social services, and the HDC’s emergency housing programme.
“Considering the size of this extended family, their current situation of being without a home is particularly distressing. Rest assured, we are committed to continuing our efforts to support the family during this challenging time,” Paray said.
