More than half of women murdered this year were killed by their partners

Sep 29, 2019 News

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More than half of the domestic violence-related killings for this year involved women dying at the hands of a current or former romantic partner, according to statistics obtained from the Ministry of Social Protection.

While there were no murders recorded in the first two months of the year, between March and August, the Ministry recorded eight women killed—six allegedly by their current or former partners.
According to the information, four women between the ages 20 and 46 were allegedly murdered by their husbands; while one each was allegedly murdered by their common-law husband and estranged lover. The remaining two women were killed by their daughter and brother, respectively.
These women are different ages, from different racial backgrounds and upbringing and from different parts of the country.
It all started on March 30, when Corentyne, Berbice resident, 20-year-old Omwattie Gill, was run over by her husband, Gavin Gill, who later hacked her to death in full view of villagers.
Gavin, 31, was later arrested by police as he stood near his wife’s lifeless body holding the bloodied cutlass. He is before the courts.
Over a month later, on May 14, the decomposing body of 36-year-old Zaila Sugrim was discovered by detectives in a shallow grave behind a Crane, West Coast Demerara gas station her husband, Ryan Sugrim, operated.

Kaieteur News had reported that the woman who was wearing a flowered dress, and her hands her feet were bound with a piece of cloth. She appeared badly beaten and her features were reportedly too decomposed to allow for positive identification.
It was also reported that her husband who has since been charged with her murder, set fire to the grave in an attempt to destroy the spot. Reports indicate that Sugrim suffered several years of abuse at the hand of her husband.
In fact, it was reported that last year, the man beat her so bad; she remained hospitalised for several days. It was then that she confided in a Kaieteur News reporter that her husband had threatened to kill her and bury her in a shallow grave.
A few days later, Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast mother of six, Farida Khayum, was stabbed to death by her husband with whom she had been involved in a heated argument at the Lot 9 Market Street, Ann Regina home. Based on reports, during the argument, the enraged man armed himself with a wife and stabbed his wife about12 times about the body, primarily in the region of the abdomen.
After realising that the wife, 39, was lifeless, the man Devanand Narine ingested a poisonous substance. He later succumbed while under police guard at the hospital. On Friday, June 28, 36-year-old businessman, Munishwar Ramkellawan, and his common-law Venezuelan wife, 26-year-old Marianny Martinez, were found dead in their bed at their Eteringbang Landing, Cuyuni River home in what appeared to be a murder/suicide.

Report state that Ramkellawan and his reputed wife were seen imbibing alcohol at their home from where they operated a fuel business. An eyewitness had recounted that the couple was heard having a heated argument. They went home and two gunshots were later heard.
The following day, an employee of the couple went to their home and found their lifeless bodies. The man had a single gunshot wound to the right side of his head while his wife bore a single gunshot wound to the left side of her head.
About a month later, on August 21, 44-year-old wife, Vinette Headley-James, was stabbed to death by her 45-year-old husband, Sherlock James, who was furious of her having an extra marital affair.
The killing took place in front of the couple’s daughter at their Nabacalis, East Coast Demerara home. Police said that Sherlock, a miner, spent long periods away from home and suspected that his wife was having an extramarital affair.
He confronted the woman about her alleged affair. They argued and the miner assaulted his spouse then fled the scene. However, James returned on the day in question to find that his spouse was putting his clothes in the yard. It was reported that the man warned his wife that he would kill her if she continued putting his belongings out.

When the wife ignored his threats, he allegedly picked up a knife from the kitchen and stabbed her to the neck. The injured woman reportedly fled to the backyard. The daughter took her injured mom by taxi to the Dr. C.C. Nicholson Hospital at Nabaclis, where she succumbed. Scouring the couple’s backyard, police eventually found Sherlock’s lifeless body lying in a bushy area with what appeared to a self-inflicted wound to the neck.
Shemain Frank, 28, of Lot 317 Victoria Village, East Coast Demerara was stabbed to the chest allegedly by her estranged lover, Clive Wilson, 36, while she lay in bed.
Wilson escaped after the killing and remains on the run. His last known address was given as Atlantic Gardens, East Coast Demerara.
According to reports, Wilson has been continuously accusing the woman of having an affair. While the woman lay in bed on August 28, he reportedly jumped through a window to the bathroom where he hid. The man, who was armed with a knife, then sneaked into the woman’s bedroom and stabbed her. Wilson then dropped the knife in the room and fled on foot.
Meanwhile, 41-year-old Kamela Jameer, a mother of two, is currently on remand for the murder of her mother 69-year-old Rookmin Jameer of Lot 305 Tempe Village, West Coast Berbice. Rookmin was found with her throat slit in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor in the bottom flat of her two-storey home on April 17.
Her daughter, who initially told police that she came home and found her mother in that state, is reported to have confessed to the killing. It was reported that during interrogation, she told police that she and her mother were involved in a heated argument after the elderly woman accused her of stealing some money. She allegedly told police that the row escalated and she grabbed a chopper from the kitchen counter and slashed her mother’s throat. She then waited until her mother was dead.
Cynthia Cozier, a 25-year-old mother, was brutally chopped to death by her brother on July 3. The killing occurred at Waramuri Village, Moruca, Region One. According to reports, the 25-year-old brother, Rendy Cozier, who is said to be of unsound mind was involved in a heated argument with Cynthia and another one of his siblings when he armed himself with a cutlass and chopped them. Cynthia received the most chops to her head and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Rendy Cozier has since been charged.

 

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