A mother of two is currently living in fear of her estranged husband, who despite a protection order, and constant reports to the police continues to stalk her and has made several threats against her life.
Sceon Selman nee Beckles married Prison Officer George Selman on September 3, 2006.
Nine years and two children later, Beckles left the marriage which she says was filled with constant verbal and physical abuse.
The last straw, she said, came when her husband threatened to kill her, their children and then himself. “This pushed me to walk away leaving everything behind just so I could find a little peace,” Selman wrote in a letter she has forwarded to several governmental and non-governmental agencies. The letter details the various assaults she has suffered at the hands of her estranged husband since their separation.
In the letter she explains that prior to leaving her home and filing for divorce, she had visited the Welfare Department in Region Three, the Prison Welfare Department and the non-governmental organization Red Thread.
Despite these efforts, her husband’s actions continued and escalated to the extent that he “sharpened a cutlass and told villagers to get out their funeral clothes,” Selman wrote.
These threats resulted in her obtaining a restraining order on July 8, 2015. The protection order states that for a period of ten years George Selman is “restrained and prohibited from being within 100 feet” of Sceon Selman and her children. He is also to “refrain from verbally, physically abusing the applicant; refrain from harassing or interfering with the applicant in any way whatsoever and refrain from threatening or uttering threats against the children.”
This, however, has not deterred the man, who on July 12, reportedly cornered and threatened his wife at the Stabroek Market. In fact, according to witnesses, his attacks have each become more brazen and violent.
Selman spoke of being threatened on 13 July at the Leonora Magistrate’s Court.
“He said he would kill me, then on July 16 he came into the same speedboat and tried to pull my four-year-old out of the boat saying he can get a gun for $50,000 and that he will burn my mother’s house down,” she wrote.
His violence has even extended beyond just his wife and children. Her brother and colleagues at the Leonora Secondary School spoke to Stabroek News of hearing him deliver threats to Selman.
According to her brother, his neighbours told him that his brother-in-law had shown up at his home on October 30, because someone told him Selman was staying there.
He has reportedly visited her place of work several times including last Friday. A source at the school said, “He walked into the school with another man and went to the Reading Room where she usually is. Thankfully she was not in school as he is a man who is always threatening to kill her.”
These threats and his visits to the school have been reported to education officials and the police yet they continue.
Commander of ‘D’ Division Stephen Mansell told Stabroek News that he is aware of the matter and is attempting to handle it.
“We submitted a file for him to be charged to the DPP over a month ago but we haven’t received any response as yet,” Mansell said. “Every time they call and report the threats we keep speaking to this fellow. We take every report of domestic violence very seriously. In fact the file that was submitted covers his attack on the woman and a police officer who tried to stop him from assaulting her in the Leonora Magistrate Court compound.”
Selman, however, is not impressed with the actions of the police. “I have done all I can,” she said. “I have reported him everywhere and yet he is still on the streets able to threaten me and my children. If I leave the house, he can tell me what I was wearing. I’m afraid to open my door. My four-year-old hasn’t been to school in weeks because he showed up at the school and tried to snatch him,” the terrified woman added.
She is also distraught that the Child Care and Protection Agency released her eight-year-old into the custody of her husband.
When Stabroek News contacted Minister of Social Protection Volda Lawrence on Friday, she acknowledged that she was aware of the issue and said she has provided Selman with an option. “We are presently waiting for her to make a decision,” Lawrence said.
Selman explained that the ministry has offered her the option of relocating to somewhere distant from her husband, but she is too afraid to take the offer.
“He has said he can find me anywhere. And if I go far from my family I won’t have their support. I don’t think I can trust the police to protect me if he finds me wherever they send me,” she said.
She said that after a visit to Help and Shelter on Thursday she was directed to meet Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum who directed the detective at the Leonora Police Station to detain her husband for an appearance in court on Monday.
“The detective call me for an address where to find him and I gave him it, but now he telling me that they went to the house twice and didn’t find him there,” the woman said.
