Dear Editor,
It is said that lightening does not strike twice in the same place. It is said also, that every so often, history tends to repeat itself. The repetition may not be in the exact form nor it may not be even near congruent to its previous edition, yet what happens the second time around mirrors an earlier edition. When that happens we are forced to remember the past.
Thus when last Monday I read the story in the Kaieteur News about the ex-policeman committing bigamy I immediately remembered a similar incident which occurred during the late 1970’s. Here is what happened.
I was a detective stationed at the Fraud Squad in the CID HQ when I was detailed to investigate an allegation of bigamy purportedly committed by a serving policeman. In those days policemen were not given preferential treatment whenever they found themselves on the wrong side of the law.
As the events turned out, the rank whose name shall remain unmentioned, lived in Berbice as a teenager where -as a civilian- he wed wife number one. He then moved to Georgetown where he joined the army and wed wife number two. As a soldier he was posted to Bartica where he wed wife number three. The army life was too tough, so he absconded and joined the Police Force. It was there that his troubles began.
It will be observed that as a civilian, a soldier and as a police this man had a wife in each county viz, Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo.
By virtue of being married, he tendered his most recent marriage certificate along with an application for a housing allowance to the officer in charge of his station. While that application was being processed the first and only legitimate wife made an application to the administration of the force for support of a child whom the rank had abandoned several years earlier. She also tendered her marriage certificate which obviously collided with the one which the rank had submitted. It was that collision which sparked the investigation.
In the end, the rank was charged with two counts of bigamy. In relation to the third marriage I attempted to charge him with bigamy committed on the second marriage, but I was astutely advised by the DPP that both offences were committed on the first marriage which was the only legitimate one.
Regardless of the type of crime, the perpetrator almost always tries to conceal the evidence… For example, in rape, theft, fraud, kidnapping and murder to name a few, there is always a chance of escape because the evidence can be hidden, but I cannot understand how a reasonable thinking man intends to hide a wife in his bid to conceal bigamy.
To me bigamy is one of the most senseless offences, and the young man at the centre of the current matter should thank his lucky stars that the relatives of his legitimate wife did not lay hands on him. Sorry, he is lucky they did not lay ‘sticks’ on him.
In trying to rationalize the incentive behind bigamy, I have come to the jocular conclusion that because some men don’t want to marry at all, others choose to marry twice and even thrice so as not to leave too many eligible young ladies unmarried.
Yours faithfully,
Francis Carryl
