Thirty-two-year-old Romona Lall, who was found with multiple stab wounds about her body in a room at Sunset Hotel, Kitty on Sunday, had left Essequibo on Friday to accompany her husband to pick up his car in Berbice and checked into the hotel with him, her traumatised family has said.
Priya Narine, Lall’s cousin, told Stabroek News yesterday that Lall had been severely beaten by her husband last week. Narine said Lall contacted her mother last week and told her what had transpired and asked for help. Her sister, who resides two villages away, went to her rescue and Lall, along with her children, were sent to Essequibo where the mother resides.
On Thursday evening, Narine explained, Lall’s husband visited her mother’s Essequibo home, and the mother instructed him not to enter her yard. However, according to the cousin, he forcefully entered saying that no one could stop him since his wife and children were there.
On entering, the man reportedly began crying and refused to leave without Lall and the children; he remained there and cried all night as family members gathered. Narine said he asked Lall to return home with the children and promised never to abuse her again.
On Friday morning, Lall decided to accompany him home to Berbice, since he related that he had not used his car to travel to Essequibo. According to the cousin, they left to pick up the car to return for the children.
On Saturday, Narine said Lall and her husband travelled to Georgetown but when they arrived, the boat to take them to their destination had already stopped working. She assumed that they must have then taken a decision to stay at a hotel, but was puzzled as to why they remained in the city, when there are many hotels in Parika.
Narine explained that on Sunday after they discovered that Lall had been murdered, Lall’s husband sent her (Narine) two voice messages on WhatsApp. In the voice notes, Narine said, he could be heard asking a friend if he thought Lall was cheating on him. She said it appeared to be a friendly conversation and the friend was clueless that the call was being recorded.
After sending her the voice notes, Narine said, Lall’s husband messaged her and instructed her to share them on social media to inform the public that it was his friend who had murdered Lall. Instead, Narine informed the police and was asked to provide a statement. The friend was also summoned to give a statement at the police station.
According to the information that the family received from police sources, the husband crossed the Berbice Bridge at approximately 9 am on Sunday, before Lall’s body was discovered. They are fearful that he might be heading to Suriname in an attempt to escape.
Narine recalled that Lall’s last words to her children were, “we going for the car, we coming back for y’all.” She also said that the family was shown CCTV footage of the couple entering the hotel and had identified Lall and her husband.
She said that Lall would constantly tell the family about her husband’s abusive behaviour and she was advised to leave but would often return because of his promises to change.
“Ten years of abuse. She wanted to stay and make it work. We advise her to walk away, sometimes she come away and then go back,” Narine explained. “He does cry and beg until she return and she keep believing that he will change. We need justice. If he didn’t do it then why he running?
“… The car too, it is he car that was there. When he and she book the room too, is he face not nobody else.”
Lall’s body was discovered in a room at the Sunset Hotel with multiple stab wounds about her body. Police say the incident occurred between 17:50 hours on Saturday and 12:15 hours on Sunday. Her body was taken to Memorial Gardens Funeral Home, where it is awaiting a post-mortem examination.
