Dear Editor,
It is indeed shocking that a man who stabbed Nadina Kalamadeen, a 35 year-old mother of 5 children multiple times killing her, was given an inexplicable sentence of 10 years with time off for period spent in remand resulting in the possibility that he will be free in 6 years. Even though penalties for murder are life imprisonment, charges of murder are too frequently reduced down to manslaughter charges by courts in Guyana. Many of these cases of murder reduced to manslaughter involves femicides and brutal physical attacks and torture of women by male partners. What part of rebuffing a person who makes sexual advances to a woman and who is then knifed to death, fits the description of an unlawful killing without an intention to kill or cause grievous bodily harm? It is clear that when Raymond O’Selmo was rejected by Nadina Kalamadeen he then most certainly had the intention to harm her and cause grievous bodily harm. Is this the type of person who should be walking around Guyana free to commit further acts of violence in just a few years?
There is nothing normal about such a reaction to rejection, was a psychiatric evaluation carried out on this perpetrator as it points to an extremely dangerous unstable individual, possibly a stalker with uncontrollable anger issue directed at women? He should be put on the register as a convicted sexual offender so women, girls and communities can be notified when this person is released to take all necessary precautions. And what of Nadina Kalamadeen’s 5 children, their beloved mother was ripped away from them? The children of all those women killed by their partners are the forgotten victims of these murders and killings, is their pain, suffering, grief, and loss of the most important person in their lives taken into account? Is it that we think that the trauma and pain of children is any less than that of adults? Research has shown that the loss of a mother is the most devastating of experiences for children, as such, children are more prone to be abused including sexually abused and suffer emotionally, psychologically, physically and socially in Guyana.
The longest and most detailed study of pediatric grief following parental loss by the University of Pittsburgh, found that the death of a parent is an incredibly stressful event for a child and one that can have profound consequences for the child’s future well -being. It was found that children who lost a parent had the highest levels of depression and higher rates of post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The justice system must do better in sentencing on sexual and gender-based violence cases. It should not be left solely up to the discretion of a judge or magistrate to determine penalties, there must be a system which is consistent and in keeping with the crime. The lives and well-being of children must be taken into account in sentencing for crimes of femicides and grievous bodily harm. Let us not forget that many children witness the horrific violence and what terror must this unleash on the sanity and well-being of any child of any age.
Women and girls at every turn in Guyana are reminded that they live in a society rife with patriarchy, injustice, gender inequality and gender discrimination. Guyana has one of the highest levels of gender- based violence in the world according to the UN Women Survey which found that one out of every two women experienced some form of gender-based violence. In 2021, the Child Care & Protection Agency recorded 1,280 cases of child sexual abuse, with 1,128 of these cases affecting girls and 152 of cases- boys. In 2022, this number increased by 93 more cases than for the same period in 2021. We also know that rape cases make up the largest number of court offences year after year in Demerara and other county Assizes. In Guyana, rape culture is normalized and becoming more and more normalized. The Dharamlall case and the charging of a minor for 20 charges of murder while state authorities who were warned repeatedly about the dangers of criminally inadequate fire preventative measures in the Mahdia dorms remain unaccountable, are clear examples of state impunity against vulnerable children and young women.
Sincerely,
Danuta Radzik