Latest update March 28th, 2025 6:05 AM
Apr 02, 2010 News
– recalls years of domestic abuse
After walking out on her family for three days, 34-year-old Nicola Halley-Wilson turned up alive and physically well, much to the relief of worried relatives.
The woman, a mother of three, who hails from Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, related a tale of domestic torment which she said almost led her to commit suicide, while wandering the streets from her home village all the way to the West Coast of Demerara.
She is now resting in the care of an aunt at Windsor Forest.
Wilson, who was not working, lived with her three children aged nine, seven and six, as well as her brother Sherwin Halley, at Zeskenderen, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara.
Earlier it was reported that she left home Monday morning for Georgetown to do some shopping, but at some point before noon she sent a text message to her husband’s sister in Linden.
This message, combined with Halley-Wilson’s behaviour, troubled the sister-in-law enough for her to contact the Mahaicony Police and prompt them to visit Halley-Wilson’s home in an attempt to find her. In the text message she said, “There will be no more sleepless nights. Don’t worry about me and the children.”
The family awaited her arrival until nightfall but when she did not turn up and could not be contacted they began to fear the worst.
Apparently the woman and her husband, Romaine Wilson, are at odds and have separated.
She was in the process of preparing to file for child support as well as for a divorce.
Relatives had noticed that lately Wilson had been acting strangely, crying often, suffering mood swings, getting angry with the children and even claiming that she was going to give them away.
On March 19, last, she had spoken to her aunt, Rebecca Duncan, telling her that she had called her husband and heard a baby crying in the background and when she asked if he was seeing another woman, her husband told her yes.
This newspaper visited her yesterday and she appeared apprehensive and almost started to cry at the sight of the two reporters who had come to interview her.
But with a little coaxing, she sat down and related her ordeal.
Wilson said that she has been married to her husband for nine years and throughout the marriage she has had to put up with the man’s womanizing ways.
Her husband happens to be a Staff Sergeant in the Guyana Defence Force, and because of his job, he is away from home for considerable periods.
She believes that this state of affairs led to some incidences of infidelity on the part of her husband.
But with three young children to care for, she often dismissed these transgressions and tried to make life good for her family.
But things did not change even after complaining to her husband’s superiors.
In fact she said that she even received a beating for doing so.
The situation got so out of hand that Wilson could take it no longer.
“For the past nine years we were married, life seemed to be nice, but afterwards he start turning away doing his own thing. At one time we had a problem where he beat me up because of woman problem.” Wilson had reported the matter to the police, but like most women, when the time came to prosecute, she backed out.
The situation got worse leading Wilson’s husband to walk out on her.
So on March 29 last, with just a few dollars in her pocket, she walked out of the house, unknown to her children and headed to as she put it, “nowhere”.
She walked for about 15 miles until she reached Mahaica, where she caught a minibus and headed towards the city.
But the money she had could only take her up to Mon Repos further down the East Coast of Demerara.
With no destination in mind, she continued to walk aimlessly until she reached Vryheid’s Lust, where she met a relative, who was surprised to see her in the condition she was.
Since her cellular phone needed recharging she solicited the help of the relative to do so.
“I was hungry and I asked her if she could give me a money that I could go by my aunt. She asked me where I coming from and I said I just went by the shop. She took me home at her in Vryheid’s Lust and while charging the phone she gave me some food. I sat on the steps until I fell asleep.”
When Wilson awoke, she asked the relative to allow her to bathe and after doing so the woman gave her $1000 and she left for the West Coast of Demerara where she is currently being taken care of.
She related that she sent the text message to her sister-in-law while walking the streets, since she said, “I wanted to give up, whatever come my way.”
She admitted that she had reached the point of suicide but it must have been God’s desire for her to continue living for her children.
“It hurts, depending on somebody that you thought you could depend on and then they turned their back on you. It was all about just walking away.”
But what about the children?
“I don’t know. They would have been okay, somebody would’a take care of them,” she replied.
So far, except for her aunt, she has not communicated with any other relative, not even her children.
“I’m just trying to cope, think positive and to see what I can do from here,” Wilson said unable to hold back her tears.
“It’s like a nightmare. In the night when I go to sleep it just keeps reflecting like if you watching a movie. It’s hard to explain how I feel. One time I might be happy, another time the memories start coming back and like it’s sending you crazy,” Wilson said.
She said that she just doesn’t know what to tell her children but she hopes that they will forgive her.
Wilson is positive that she will not resume the relationship with her husband, and she is sure that the thought of suicide will never again cross her mind.
“I will be glad if the Guyana Defence Force could take seriously the welfare of their married ranks, especially for the sake of their wives and children,” she said.
Wilson hopes that no other woman will have to endure what she has had to go through, especially those women who have young children who will not understand the situation.
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