Dularie Samaroo, who ended her life with poison after a brutal beating at the hands of her husband, endured abuse all of her adult life by the men she chose as spouses, family members say.
“She never had a happy day in her life when it wasn’t her husband of 20 years beating her to the pulp it was this one she living with 1 year 7 months now since she left the last one,” said Rajdai Singh, her younger sister.
Samaroo, of Foulis, East Coast Demerara, died on Saturday at the Georgetown Public Hospital after she had ingested the weedicide gramoxone.
There are conflicting reports about how the woman ended up ingesting the poison. Her sister said she drank it voluntarily because she was fed up with life, while her neighbours believe that she was forced to drink it.
Singh told Stabroek News that she had heard that her sister ingested poison and she rushed to the woman’s house, a short distance away from her home. Once there, she said, Samaroo confirmed to her that she had indeed ingested the poison voluntarily. Singh added that her brother-in-law, identified only as “Mahin,” showed no empathy. Even when they had summoned a taxi to take her to the Georgetown Hospital, she said, the man instructed the taxi to return her home.
On learning that the woman was home once again, Samaroo’s family demanded that she be taken to the hospital and her husband went along as well. However, the second trip was in vain as shortly after reaching the hospital, Samaroo succumbed.
On learning that his wife was dead, Samaroo’s husband abandoned his house and fled the area. He has not been seen since.
The couple’s neighbours also told of the abuse Samaroo endured. They said that she worked tirelessly doing domestic jobs in the area to maintain her husband’s alcoholism. “She couldn’t get the money fast enough to give him and when she didn’t find it, he beat her. When he was drunk, he beat her. If she didn’t cook fast enough, he beat her like a dog. Look, she always hollering. I don’t know why the hell she stayed,” a neighbour said.
He said that on Thursday, he had heard the couple arguing and Samaroo crying subsequently. He, however, left home to visit a relative and it was only on his return that he learned that Samaroo drank the poison and was dead.
