POLICE yesterday charged three persons with the murder of the 55-year-old woman who was beaten to death in the ‘Ole Higue’ saga at Bare Root, East Coast Demerara last week

The accused, 41-year-old contractor Roland Spencer also known as ‘Brother,’ of Lot 87 Haslington; Rayon Bobb, 28, a cane cutter, of Lot 275 Bare Root and Alita Roberts, 25, of the same village, appeared before Magistrate Yohannse Cave yesterday, at Sparendaam Court, also on the East Coast.

It is alleged that they killed Radika Singh called ‘Chan’ on April 28 and were remanded to prison until May 10 when they would make another appearance at Vigilance Court, in the same magisterial district.

Singh, a psychiatric patient, of Lot 713 Phase One, Good Hope, another East Coast Demerara village, was fatally beaten because Bare Root residents believed she was an ‘Ole Higue’, a mythical woman which sucks the blood of human babies.

Her brutalised, bloodied body was found at the roadside in Bare Root last Saturday morning after she had, again, wandered away from home.

Police said a post mortem examination showed she died from haemorrhage due to blunt trauma to the head.

Victim in 'Ole Higue' saga to be buried today

Relatives and neighbours yesterday said she was depressed but very quiet.

She had been depressed for years and for two years lived with her sister at Lot 105 Mon Repos, also on the East Coast Demerara.

They said she returned home to her husband and 19-year-old son, Mahendra, when her mental condition improved.

The woman frequented the Mon Repos Market and surrounding area where she was well-known, they said.

She was beaten back of Bare Root, another East Coast village, Saturday last by residents when an alarm was raised that she was an `Ole Higue’, a woman those who believe in superstition claim lives on sucking blood of babies and little children.

Relatives said Singh joined the Psychiatric Clinic of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation last year and was on medication but would sometimes forget to take them.

As a result, they said, she would wander off but would always be returned home by villagers and people who knew her.

At their home yesterday, her husband, Ram Singh, 51, could still barely contain his grief and was being comforted by scores of neighbours, gathered to help with the wake and prepare for today’s funeral.

Her husband said he could not believe that persons took her for an `Ole Higue’ and killed her because she was gentle, kept to herself and would never quarrel.

Police said a post mortem examination showed the woman died as a result of haemorrhage due to blunt trauma to the head.

Singh left home Friday but relatives only learnt of her demise on Sunday after looking for her in several villages she frequented.