00:00 This neighborhood, I used to always say, this is one of the safest neighborhoods in the whole Trinidad and Tobago.
00:08 And it so happened that it's not so.
00:17 61-year-old Ram Rampersad has lived here in retrenched village San Fernando all his life without incident.
00:26 Even though he's aware of increased cases of home invasions across the country, he says he didn't expect it to reach his doorstep.
00:35 It's like heart wrenching.
00:41 It's a horrible feeling right now that I can't even describe how I'm feeling.
00:47 Knowing that they could come into your home and violate you this way.
00:56 Around 5pm on Thursday, his 36-year-old daughter returned home from work, parked her Honda CRV,
01:04 called out to her dog and was making her way to the front door when two bandits entered their property.
01:11 [Bandits shouting]
01:35 And as soon as I opened the door, I was inside.
01:42 And as soon as I opened the door, the gun was in my belly.
01:46 So I had to close the back and she's saying, "Dad, don't open the door, don't open the door."
01:55 It happened so fast.
01:58 You have no time to react.
02:02 The criminals escaped in the woman's brand new CRV, which she purchased just three months ago.
02:09 Their dog, Juicy, was kicked by one of the bandits she cowered at the sight of strangers today.
02:16 Rampersad said his daughter remains deeply distressed over the incident and loss of her belongings,
02:23 but was busy trying to replace her stolen IDs on Friday.
02:28 He says their experience is similar to far too many across the country
02:33 and said on their own homeowners remain vulnerable to attacks in the absence of firm action by the authorities.
02:42 If I had a gun, I don't know how it would have still happened.
02:47 Because the way how fast it happened, you have no time to react.
02:50 Without a doubt in my mind that the government is failing the whole Trinidad and Tobago citizens.
02:58 They are failing. That's the reason why the bandits could do whatever they want
03:05 and they know that they have no recourse.
03:09 They know that the government is somehow protecting the bandits instead of protecting their citizens.
03:18 The stolen handbags contained phones and cash worth tens of thousands of dollars.
03:24 Up to news time, none of the items or vehicle had been recovered.
03:29 Cindy Raghubar, Tika Singh, TV6 News.
03:33 [BARKING]
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