A manhunt has been launched for an ex-soldier who imprisoned a Venezuelan woman and her eight-month-old baby at his property in Arima and left them locked in for hours after disappearing yesterday morning.
The victims were rescued around 11 am by two police officers who were alerted by residents who responded to the cries for help.
Guardian Media was told the woman moved into the property at Mt Pleasant Road, Arima, on May 17 and had not been seen all weekend.
However, it was not until around 10.30 am yesterday that a young man walking past the property stopped after he heard the woman screaming.
Observing her peeking from behind a steel door even as she banged against it from the inside to alert people, the man was unable to understand her and opted to call the police.
Two officers arrived and were able to confirm the woman and her child were being held against their will by the former serviceman, who reportedly left the house around 7 am.
They found the front gate and doors to the property padlocked from the inside, but the steel door to the room where the victims were kept had been padlocked from the outside.
The officers later borrowed a hammer and a chisel from a nearby resident, which they used to break the locks and free the victims.
The two were later taken to a safe house. When Guardian Media visited the facility, the woman, who is in her 30s, said she was “traumatised”.
Meanwhile, residents at Mt Pleasant said the man was known for cursing unsuspecting motorists who blocked his driveway and had even taken to letting out the air from the tyres of vehicles belonging to people who parked on the unfenced property.
Guardian Media observed several steel spikes sticking out of the driveway, which was allegedly erected to deter people from parking.
One resident said he only learned of the incident when they saw police officers arriving at the property, which is currently up for sale.
“I saw the young lady looking out from a gate like a prisoner, it really touched my heart,” he said.
Praising the quick response of the officers, he added, “That is a life, a human being locked up in a house with a little baby. That would have been traumatic ... You could see she was shaken. Again, I commend the officers for a job well done.”
Confirming he and his family were often treated to what he referred to as a “baptism of fire,” from the suspect, he explained, “It is obscene language, you name it.”
He said the man’s behaviour was totally embarrassing to the community, and was a stain on the profession he had come from.
A female resident said while they feel safe in the neighbourhood, they want the suspect apprehended.
