Shastri Boodan
A pregnant woman and her family are homeless after her shack on a riverbank was torched on Thursday.
Vicky Boodram, 36, who is eight months pregnant said around 3 pm her house on River Branch Trace, Kelly Village was torched.
Boodram said at that point she contemplated suicide because she was so fed up of the hardships of life.
Jack shared the shack with her daughter Neela Kay, 13, and son Noah Boodram,2, her common-law husband Arjun Ramdeen.
Boodram said she moved into the community last year and was unable to pay rent.
Boodram said she and her family moved into the home of a neighbour but had to leave. Villagers contributed funds for the family to build a house on the riverbank not far from a hog pen.
The remains of Vicky Boodram’s home on the riverbank at Kelly Village.
Adrian Boodan
However, the family had an altercation with a villager regarding the spot where they were squatting.
Neela, a student of the St Augustine Secondary School, is unable to do any school work since she does not have a tablet, neither a home, nor access to the internet.
Life has been no bed of roses for Vicky, she left an abusive relationship and moved from house to house before meeting Ramdeen. The couple had nowhere to stay with Noah and lived in a pavilion at Knowles Street, Curepe for five months before moving to Kelly Village.
Nadia Jack, spokesman for a community group Wings of Change Foundation, said villagers felt sorry for the family and contributed whatever they had to assist them. Jack said they are in need of food and clothing and building materials. Jack said another villager has given them a plot of land to squat on in a different location and the family needs building materials. Jack can be contacted at 302-5166.