A Melanie Damishana couple lost their home and possessions yesterday after a fight between them ended with the house going up in flames.
Diola George and Joseph Gonzales, also known as ‘Dutty Locks,’ who have four children together, were left with the clothes on their backs as nothing was saved from the house.
A neighbour told Stabroek News she heard loud arguments coming from the house but paid no attention since it was usual for the couple to have heated quarrels. It was a relative who raised an alarm after she saw the house engulfed in flames around 5.15 pm yesterday, the neighbour said.
Although fire trucks arrived at the scene, nothing was saved since the trucks arrived when the building was almost completely gutted.
Wavney, the mother of George, said she learnt that the couple had an argument which escalated into a fight and then someone threw kerosene on a bed and a fire started afterwards. However, she could not say who exactly started the fire.
Wavney said she had counselled her daughter on numerous occasions and advised her to seek a protection order but George did not heed her counsel.
Wavney said that Gonzales had recently removed from the home as he would often do but he was forced to return.
Another relative, who once lived with the couple, said that she removed from the home owing to the constant fights between the man and the woman.
She said George was often left hungry with her children and she would be forced to seek employment to maintain the family.
After Gonzales had moved out, George found a job and a new partner, the relative said. However, upon Gonzales’ return, he demanded that George remove from the house—an order she was not willing to obey.
The house, according to the relative, was built by George with the assistance of her relatives and Gonzales but the land on which the house was built belonged to Gonzales.
The relative recalled Gonzales telling George that if he could not get the property she could not get it either.
The man had also reportedly changed the locks for the house and locked George out.
When Stabroek News visited yesterday George was at the police station, while relatives said that they did not know the whereabouts of Gonzales. He had earlier made a report to the police that his wife was beating him.
