– cries for help ignored, says victim’s sister
A mother of three was on Sunday night stabbed to death by her partner, who later tried to kill himself by ingesting poison.
Allison Bowen, 42, of Lot 1, Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara, sustained as many as 14 stab wounds in the attack, according to relatives, who said her death brought an end to eight years of domestic violence at her partner’s hands.
Bowen was stabbed moments after the man, identified as “Alex,” attempted to force her to consume a bowl of rat poison. After the attack, he ingested poison and he is now a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Also hospitalised is Nicole King, Bowen’s sister, who was stabbed to the chest after trying to rescue her as residents failed to respond to the cries for help. One of Bowen’s twin 14-year-old sons was also wounded while trying to protect his mother.
For this year so far, 19 women have been killed by abusive partners.
Hours before she was killed, Bowen had visited the police station and the hospital as a result of an assault during an altercation with the man. By the time the police arrived at the house, he had already left.
At Bowen’s home yesterday morning, relatives were in disbelief at her death. Her blood was still splattered on the exterior of a shop several houses away, where she was attacked after she fled her house to escape the man.
Another sister, Shonnet Gordon, who was visiting to spend time with Bowen and other relatives at Goedverwagting, told Stabroek News that some time after 3 pm on Sunday, Bowen and the man had an argument.
During the row, he butted her to her head and her forehead was left swollen as a result. He had also attempted to hit her in the head with a hammer, Gordon said, while noting that a report was made to the Sparendaam Police Station. The police arrived after but the man had left by that time.
However, around 8:30 that night, “Alex” returned, saying that he came for his bag. Based on what Stabroek News was told, Bowen was instructed to call the police if he returned. But Gordon said the man went up to Bowen and instructed her to hand over the paper she was holding with the telephone number for the police. She snatched the number from her sister and gave it to her sons, with instruction to “run down the road and call me sista [King]”. King would have then made contact with the police.
It was after this that Bowen took a decision to flee the house and ended up running to King’s house, located further down in the street.
Nobody came out
According to Gordon, when Bowen and her sister were returning to the house, they were met by the man. At this point, King intervened and asked him why he was always beating up Bowen. “He tell she [King] move out de way,” Gordon said.
One of Bowen’s 14-year-old sons, who witnessed the brutal attack, told Stabroek News that during the confrontation the man instructed King to get out of his face “before something bad happen”. He said that King refused to move from between him and Bowen.
This newspaper was told that when the man approached the women, he had a haversack on his back and was holding a butter bowl. The bowl contained rat poison and he attempted to force Bowen to drink it. When she refused, he pulled a 12-inch knife from his waist and began stabbing her.
“He pull off he bag and dash down he bicycle, tek out ah knife and run behind she [Bowen] and meh auntie [King] try to stop he… He push she down on the bench and me and meh auntie start to run,” the teen recounted.
The teen said that his mother was hollering for help while she was being stabbed and his aunt was hollering “murder”. He said he attempted to help his mother by holding onto the man and sustained a cut on his hand in the process. From all indications, the knife broke in Bowen and the man later turned on King, stabbing her once in the chest.
After stabbing the women, the teen said, the man threw down the knife and started running.
According to Gordon, despite the screams, no one came to help. She added that had villagers gone to the women’s assistance, Bowen might still be alive today. She said the man was able to stab her 14 times.
“If nuff ah deh din come out, she woulda stand a chance,” she said, adding that even after news spread that Bowen was lying on the road dead, still many person did not come out. “If you din find ten people out hey, that was plenty,” she further, while also recalling that they had a hard time finding transportation to take the woman to the hospital.
By the time the police arrived, it appeared that Bowen was already dead.
Stabroek News was told that some time yesterday morning, the man spotted police along Camp Street. As the ranks approached, he put something in his mouth. He was later taken to the Georgetown Hospital and was admitted after it was ascertained that he had consumed poison.
Relating the abuse that Bowen endured, Gordon said that over the eight years they were together, he was very abusive. She said too that the man was also abusive to the children.
And although the police often intervened in many of the couple’s domestic disputes and would lock him up, he was never placed before the courts, she added.
Relatives, Gordon added, used to warn Bowen about the man. However, she opined that her sister kept taking him back because he promised to change.
She told Stabroek News that Saturday night was the last night she spent with her sister. She said that because they had not seen each other for a long time, they all spent the night at King’s house. However, Gordon said that the man bothered Bowen all night and the following day, they returned to her home and the man started verbally abusing the children.
The grief-stricken woman said they were finalising arrangements for Bowen to escape from the abusive relationship.
