The parents of a 17-year-old girl of Rosignol, West Bank Berbice are distressed that they got her married to a 25-year-old US-based Guyanese, who has turned out to be a drug user.
The girl’s mother related that the man got angry and threatened to kill her daughter after she found his cocaine a few nights after the wedding and threw it away. She was staying with his relatives at Skeldon at the time.
The girl related that the man told her “this drug is my life. I did not want to marry you; my grandmother forced me to.”
Scared for her life, she went to her husband’s grandmother and told her that she did not know he was involved in drugs, to which the grandmother responded: “Well you know now…”
The grandmother, who also lives in the US, made the match two years ago. However, once the match was made, she and her grandson rarely communicated with his bride-to-be and her family.
The grandmother, her husband and a great-grandson travelled with the groom to Guyana this month for the wedding.
At first, the girl’s parents alleged, the grandmother told them that she did not have any relatives in Guyana and wanted them to have both sides of the wedding at their home.
The parents, who are poor and wanted a better life for their daughter, agreed. She also promised to help with the expenses when she arrived in Guyana but all she gave the girl was US$120. The bride’s home was not convenient so the wedding was held at her aunt’s home.
The bridegroom, his grandparents and his nephew stayed at the aunt’s home when they arrived in the country two days before the wedding. However, a few days earlier the grandmother had called from the US and related to the bride’s mother that she had invited her two sisters who live at Skeldon, for the wedding. They also stayed with her at the aunt’s house.
The mother said she felt betrayed because all along the woman was telling her that she did not have any relatives in Guyana.
The bride’s father, who borrowed money for the wedding, was so frustrated and embarrassed at how everything worked out for his daughter that he attempted to end his life.
The bride’s mother related that the groom’s grandmother had promised that her grandson would have visited since last year for the wedding, but then said it was not possible as she had to undergo heart surgery. They have since learned that the groom had been living with a woman in the US.
Two days after the wedding, the new bride went with her husband to stay with his relatives at Skeldon. When her mother visited on the Thursday he and his relatives told her to take her daughter home because they did not want her.
The girl is still shaken by her experience and her mother said she wanted to highlight her plight so that other parents would not make the same mistake.
