Years of abuse reached their peak yesterday when a 45-year-old Eccles woman was brutally chopped about her body allegedly by her husband who was later found hiding in a weed-infested trench several streets away.
Chrita Noharie called Veronica of Lot 51 ‘CC’ Eccles, East Bank Demerara is now a patient of the Georgetown Public Hospital after undergoing emergency surgery on her hands. This newspaper has learnt that one of the limbs was left hanging after the attack had ended. Her husband was arrested and taken into custody.
The hospital said in a release that the woman was taken to the institution around 4 am with multiple lacerations about the body “after she was allegedly abused by her husband”.
Noharie, the release added, was treated in the main operating theatre and was in recovery.
When Stabroek News saw the injured woman, her two hands were heavily bandaged. She was groaning in pain and subsequently asked a relative for a pillow.
Her mother said Noharie was chopped while at the home of one of her daughters, who also resides in Eccles, and who had gone out for a drive.
While it is unclear how the man entered the house, the mother related that the injured woman and her young son and daughter were there alone at the time.
The mother said that shortly after the attack which occurred around 3 am, a neighbour called the woman’s daughter and alerted her to what had happened and she went home and rushed her mother to the hospital.
Noharie’s mother said she was not sure what had sparked the attack but received the message from one of her grandsons. Although she is not sure if the couple had any problems, Noharie’s mother was of the opinion that her daughter was being abused by her husband and “he always make problem with her”. According to her mother, Noharie was a “quiet” person who never said much.
The visibly shaken woman said that she and her daughter were not in contact as after the marriage her son-in-law had forbidden her daughter from speaking to her.
Yesterday was the man’s birthday and Noharie’s mother told this newspaper that she feared his relatives may seek bail for him. She said she did not want this to happen as her daughter needed to get justice.
Constant abuse
At the home where the chopping occurred, Noharie’s daughters and other relatives were distraught.
One daughter, Radha, told Stabroek News that while she was growing up, her mother was always abused by her father.
The woman said too that her father drank and it was when he was in this state that the episodes of abuse would occur.
She recalled that sometimes the episodes would become physical and the police got involved on a few occasions. However, the man persisted with his behaviour towards her mother.
According to her, they had visited the hospital but did not get to see Noharie or get information from the hospital regarding her condition.
The visibly shaken woman said the police have since told them that they are waiting for Noharie to recover so they could take a statement from her about what transpired that morning.
Radha said she did not know what had happened as she was not there at the time.
She confirmed that her father is in police custody and later said that her mother was a pleasant person.
Persons living near the home did not recall hearing any screams or anything suspicious that morning.
When this newspaper visited the couple’s home, neighbours said the man was a constant abuser of alcohol and would often brutalize the woman, who would sometimes move out.
Persons living in the area expressed shock over the incident but were adamant that “it was only a matter of time” before the abuse escalated to the point it did yesterday morning.
Residents living near the area where the man was found hiding said that around 7 am they noticed policemen standing on the road not far from where one of the injured woman’s children resides.
They later learnt of what transpired and that the man was found hiding in the trench.
