Police are continuing investigations into the death of a Chaguanas man who was severely beaten over the alleged theft of a cell phone. Floyd Mahase, 50, a handyman, who succumbed to his injuries at hospital on Friday night, was found unconscious and naked in a ditch behind his home on Thursday with injuries about his body by his father Randolph Mahabir.
Mahase, a father of one, lived alone at Derrick Road, Chase Village, Chaguanas. He underwent emergency surgery at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex but never regained consciousness. His father Randolph Mahabir, 72, told the Sunday Guardian, the deceased was a drug addict. “If he did steal the phone and he sell it, I would have arranged and paid compensation. They beat a man to death for a cellphone,” he said.
He said he would usually see Mahase every day because he would come for food. He said he became worried when he did not see Mahase on Tuesday or Wednesday and went in search of him on Thursday. Mahabir said neighbours told him Mahase had an argument with a couple over a cell phone and was beaten with a bottle. Neighbours called an ambulance but Mahase refused to go to the hospital. An autopsy is expected to be performed tomorrow at the Forensic Sciences Complex, Port of Spain.