Dev Sharma a post graduate of UG was kidnapped and believed to have been taken to Buxton where he was cruelly beaten and harassed before his release. During his kidnapping, his wife, Maria Sharma was shot by the gunmen. She is currently pursuing post-graduate studies in the Faculty of Social Sciences at UG.

Efforts by the Chronicle to get a response from the University of Guyana Students Society (UGSS) and lecturers at UG were futile.

Meanwhile, the Women’s Progressive Organisation (WPO), the women’s arm of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has vehemently condemned the brutal attack on the Sharmas.

The kidnapping of Dev Sharma and the shooting of his wife are unacceptable in a civilised society,” the WPO said, adding that: “Maria who is a mother of two, is currently the President of the Rural Women’s Network (RWN), a non-governmental organization which works across ethnic, economic, social and political barriers for the advancement of women in Guyana.”

The WPO also said that from the onset it strongly and consistently condemns the killing of law abiding citizens and members of the security forces.

“In this regard we desire also to categorically state that anyone who is responsible for extra-judicial killings or otherwise be punished under the law,” the WPO added.