Senior Reporter
jensen.lavende@guardian.co.tt
Enough is enough!
This was the chant that reverberated throughout Acono Village, Maracas, St Joseph, last night, from residents who participated in a candlelight vigil demanding the immediate safe return of kidnap victim Anisha Hosein-Singh.
Hosein-Singh, 27, along with her husband and other workers, were setting up the tents for the Sauce & Sons Doubles outlet along the Eastern Main Road, El Dorado, around 5.50 am on Saturday when a silver B15 car with four masked men pulled up and bundled her into the vehicle.
The car was found abandoned at Lluengo Village, Maracas Valley, St Joseph, several hours after the kidnapping.
Father Mikhail Woodruffe began the vigil with a prayer calling for the safe return of Hosein-Singh. He also prayed for the family to be comforted and for hearts of stone, a clear reference to the abductors, to be turned to hearts of compassion and love.
Led by flagman Willon Nurse, the 100-plus residents constantly repeated the chants of “Enough is Enough”, “We fed-up” and “Set her free” during the vigil.
Residents told Guardian Media that they came out to show support for the Hosein family, who remain a pillar in the community. However, none of Hosein-Singh’s immediate family attended the vigil.
Resident Claire Laban pleaded with the kidnappers to release her.
“Think about it. Study the family, release her!” she said, adding that the thought of not knowing what was happening and who may be next was agonising.
Glenda Robeiro said she came out because she has known the family all her life.
“This is very unjust. Something like this is hard to accept,” Robeiro said.
Some residents said they had heard suggestions the kidnapping was linked to extortion. However, police said they could not confirm this but were working on several theories. This was confirmed by DCP Suzette Martin, who said the investigation was at a sensitive stage and did not want to divulge much information.
“We cannot confirm at this time that is the cause of it but that is one of the theories that we have,” Martin said.
Asked about the police establishing an extortion unit, Martin said that is not being considered at this time.
“No, we don’t have that and that is why I am saying if businessmen are experiencing that, they can make a report to the police or they can call me, I will speak with them and treat with the issue.”
Martin added that she had no reports before of incidents of extortion.
Parents struggling to cope
When Guardian Media visited the family’s Acono Village home yesterday, a relative said Hosein-Singh’s father, Ahamad Hosein, had just fallen asleep.
The man said yesterday was the first time since the incident that Hosein and his wife had slept and ate.
In a media release yesterday, the family denied rumours that the kidnapping and killings that have plagued the family was due to infighting amongst themselves.
The release said the name Sauce Doubles is a generational trademark that was founded in the 1970s.
The matriarch’s children and grandchildren each retained the name and created their own identifiable off-brand, it said.
Sauce Team is located along Ariapita Avenue and Barataria; Sauce Nation is based at Warrenville and Aranguez; The Original Sauce Hot Doubles is located in Chaguanas and St Joseph; D’ Original Sauce Doubles is located at Curepe Junction, Eastern Main Road, Curepe and Chase Village, Freeport; and D’ Original Sauce in situation in El Socorro, San Juan.
“There isn’t one boss or one owner to these various Sauce establishments throughout Trinidad. It is owned by either an aunt, uncle or cousin. Everyone operates their own branch to take care of their family and each are independently responsible for their decision making. We all communicate very well in the event of expansion and other business-related points to avoid any conflict within the extended family,” the release said.
Attacks on the family
On May 12, a 19-year-old man was manning the Original Sauce stand along the Southern Main Road, Cunupia, when a car stopped and a masked man got out. It was alleged that the armed suspect told the worker to tell his boss lady to look out for a call last Friday, following which he fired several shots.
In March 2021, Amar Hosein was critically injured in a shooting at his home in Orange Grove, Tunapuna.
In December 2020, Kareem Jervis was killed in a shooting in Curepe Junction. The doubles vendor had been employed with Sauce Doubles and died after gunmen opened fire on him as he was at work in a wrought-iron cage.
In March 2020, Hosein-Singh’s cousin Charlene Ramkissoon was shot dead along with her friend Darie Simon, when gunmen opened fire while they were at a shop at Acono Village. It was at this spot that yesterday’s vigil began.
In August 2019, Sauce Doubles vendor Shazard Manick was shot in the head and chest while at work and later died at the hospital.
