The 16-year-old girl, who was savagely chopped in the North West District last month, is on the road to recovery and while her speech is slurred, she has started communicating through gestures.
Stabroek News was told that the girl’s head is still bandaged but she is now able to open her eyes and the swelling to her face has reduced significantly. She has also started eating solid food.
She is still an admitted patient in the female ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital.
A source said that when the teen tries to speak, her words are not audible. From all indications, the source added, she is paralyzed on her right side. She communicates by moving her left hand and seems unable to move the right.
The girl sustained a gaping wound about six inches long to her head in addition to numerous chops about the body during an attack by a man with whom she had a relationship.
The chopping occurred around midnight on Sunday, May 20, after the suspect reportedly caught the teen in a compromising position with Junior Joseph, 22, an employee of the dredge operation that he owned. Joseph was chopped to death during the attack.
Based on the information provided to this newspaper, the girl began a relationship with the suspect shortly after he moved to the area, less than a year ago. He has been renting a house at Oronoque, Port Kaituma.
Stabroek News later learnt that the suspect first met the teen at a Kayamoo – a barrack-like accommodation for sex workers – where she was employed. He later took her to his mining camp to stay there with him.
The man had suspected that the girl was being unfaithful to him and decided to hatch a plan to catch her in the act.
From all indications, he caught Joseph off guard and began chopping him on his neck as the teen stood helplessly nearby. When Joseph’s neck was almost severed from his body, the man turned his cutlass on the teen.
The suspect, who hails from the Pomeroon River, is believed to be hiding out in neighbouring Venezuela.
The wounded teen was rushed to the Port Kaituma Hospital and was air dashed to the city the day after the attack.
