The fear of being murdered by her reputed husband, who is a Police Constable in the Guyana Police Force (GPF), has 22-year-old Anjanie Yacoob confined to her house on the West Bank of Demerara.
The young mother of three decided to tell her story for fear of being another statistic relating to women who were killed at the hands of their spouses.
During a telephone interview with the News Room on Friday, the young mother said her reputed husband, who is serving as a Presidential Guard, beat her with a cutlass and chopped off her hair on Tuesday morning (October 19) in the presence of the children after he found her packing her belongings to move out.
The night prior to the beating, they were involved in an argument.
“We ended up in an argument and I told him I will move out and he threatened that he will kill me, he told me if I pass the door, he gon do what he gotta do,” a distraught Yacood told the News Room.
The following day, the woman set her mind to end the eight-year relationship and decided to make a move when he left for business in Georgetown. But as soon as she stepped out, she was confronted by her husband.
“I didn’t know that he didn’t leave…he was over by the neighbour peeping me all the time so when I step out, he walk through the gate and said that ‘you see, as soon as I left, you wait for I left to move out,’ and he ran in the kitchen, pick up the cutlass and start lashing me,” she recounted.
Yacoob said her children were present along with her sister and a cousin during the ordeal.
“They couldn’t have hold he back. He had me on the ground beating me with the cutlass and all my sister coulda do was holler for help outside and call out the neighbour.
“He hold the cutlass and chop off my hair and telling me how he gon kill me and that I not to leave the house.
“I give he a million chances and he ain’t change.”
It’s not the first time Yacoob has endured the abuse.
She said her next-door neighbour heard the commotion, came over and managed to disarm the suspect; at that point, the young mother ran out of the yard and said that a police van that was passing at the time came to her aid.
The suspect was taken to the Wales Police Station and was placed under ‘close arrest.’ While Yacoob thought she was safe for the time being, her husband was actually released by the police after 72 hours and he even made contact with her.
“He went to the station and they said he was under close arrest and I give them all my statements and left but now Thursday night, he called me telling me to come outside, he just wanna talk and all the time I thinking that he in the lock-ups but he deh out.
“He keep calling me saying he wants to talk and work things out …he living right here…he threatened to kill me so how I could possibly walk on the road, what about my kids?”
When contacted by the News Room, Divisional Commander Errol Watts said that a report was indeed made against the suspect and that the Police Force is taking “all the necessary actions” to address the issue.
