A 63-year-old United States (US) based Guyanese woman is grieving the loss of her husband (also Guyanese) of 46 years following a robbery attack earlier this month.
Dead is a 68-year-old father of five, Dhanraj Mangra.
Mangra and his family migrated to the US, specifically New York City, some 12 years ago, in search of safer grounds.
According to the New York Daily News, Mangra was found unconscious on Jamaica Ave. near 207th St. in Queens Village at 8:30 p.m. on January 3, 2018.
On the night that the retired UPS security guard died, his wife, Bibi Mangra, a home health aide who works in Long Island, returned home, fell asleep and left before sunrise the next morning, thinking her husband was still in bed.
“I walked out quietly because I usually don’t wake him,” Mangra said. “I didn’t even realize he still wasn’t home. When I reached work, I kept calling his phone and there was no answer. I started calling my children but they couldn’t reach him either.”
“Then the hospital called me and said he died,” she told New York Daily News, choking back tears.
The woman explained that she knew in her gut that something was not right with the explanation being provided for her husband’s death. She said that according to doctors, her husband died of a heart attack.
“He was a very healthy person,” she explained. “I know he’s a strong person. He never complained about stomach pain, anything. I was so surprised to hear (about the heart attack).”
The distraught wife noted that her suspicions grew as she was preparing her husband for his funeral and noticed cuts on his forehead and chin.
Upon enquiring from police, the woman said she was then told that a search is on-going for two men who reportedly knocked Mangra down and later robbed him.
The homicide detectives explained to the woman that Mangra died at Queens Hospital after a pair of muggers attacked him and slammed his head against a parked car.
The heartless muggers ran off with his iPhone, his credit cards and cash, police said.
“It’s not right that they killed him,” she said, as tears streamed down her face. “They want his wallet? Take it. But don’t kill him. He’s an old man; he’s not a young person.”
“He was a very good husband,” the grieving widow said.
