Family, friends and neighbours of slain pensioner, Ramrathee ‘Devi’ Rajcoomar (77) are struggling to come to terms with her death, after her lifeless body was found, with a scarf tightly bound around her neck, a week ago.

The grandmother from Shastri Park in Phoenix was a devoted Hindu who lived alone.

On Monday, March 19 she was busy preparing for family and friends to arrive at her house for a prayer.

According to her brother, Jay Bhikapersad, the incident took place between 07:00 and 08:00.

Bhikapersad said his sister usually prayed outside in the mornings and she would have been caught off guard, being vulnerable because the upcoming prayer would have been on her mind.

“The suspect used to work for her, our other sister and did some work at my place too,” said Bhikapersad.

According to Bhikapersad, prior to Rajcoomar’s death, the suspect stole money from his their sister’s house.

“He stole money from a cupboard in her room while he was washing windows at her place. She warned Devi against him.”

Rajcoomar confronted the suspect when she saw him a few weeks later, which the family suspects angered the suspect, who worked as her gardener.

“We believe in an attempt to silence my sister he caught her off-guard and killed her,” said Bhikapersad.

A neighbour heard her scream, while another claimed to have seen the suspect open an access gate and flee the scene with a set of keys and a lock in his possession.

Captain Louise Naidoo of the Phoenix police said the victim’s daughter, Rene Baldev, alleges she received a call from her mother’s neighbour, informing her that the access gate as well as a gate at the front door of her mother’s house was open.

Baldev could not reach her mother by phone so she went to her mother’s house where she found the front door open.

Inside, she noticed her mother’s TV lying on a sofa, covered in mud. She also noticed a torn refuse bag filled with leaves and other dirt lying on the floor.

Baldev discovered her mother lying on the bathroom floor, with a white scarf tied around her neck. Paramedics declared her dead on the scene.

Rajcoomar’s son, Rajen, said that his mother had a heart of gold and always thought of her family first.

“She liked living independently and was fit and strong. She lived to entertain her family with love, affection and food. Nothing will bring back my mother, but we want justice to be served so that the perpetrator of this heinous and selfish act will be brought to book,” added her son.

A post-mortem was conducted, and the family are awaiting results.

Naidoo said police are investigating the matter and the possibility that the motive for the murder could be robbery as the house was ransacked.