Man kills partner, sets home on fire before dying in hospital

A man and a woman are dead after an alleged murder and arson early Wednesday at a home in Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara, police said.

Paula Abraham, 50, was found with a stab wound to her neck at the couple’s Lot 22 Second Street residence around 1:30 a.m. She was pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor from the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

Her reputed husband, Ishwar Singh, 46, who allegedly set fire to the two-storey wooden and concrete house after the attack, was taken to GPHC with burns to his body. He died around 10:10 a.m. while receiving treatment, police said.

Investigators said the couple lived in the lower flat of the house with their daughter, Preeta Singh, 24, who escaped after being awakened by her mother’s screams and the heat of the fire. She told police her father was a habitual drinker who often beat and threatened her mother.

Neighbours and relatives raised an alarm as the blaze spread. The Guyana Fire Service extinguished the fire, which partly destroyed the lower flat and damaged the upper level. Abraham’s body, found on a mattress in her bedroom, showed no signs of burns, police said.

The bodies are at the GPHC mortuary awaiting post-mortem examinations. Police said several people were questioned and the investigation is ongoing.