A 36-year-old woman of Fernandes Ally, Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara (EBD) is fearful for her life and that of her two children after their father attempted to kill them by setting their house on fire in the wee hours of Monday.
The accused, 35-year-old Ryan Chung, was charged for setting the house and fire and remanded to prison on Wednesday when he appeared at the Diamond Magistrate’s Court, EBD. He pleaded not guilty and is expected to re-appear in court on January 3, 2022.
The woman, Samantha Hussain, told the News Room that she took out a restraining order against Chung – an ex-convict – five months ago. According to her, a year ago, after he was released from prison, he threatened to kill her if she did not rekindle their relationship.
The restraining order was broken five times, the last being on Monday at about 02:00hrs. Hussain recounted that the loud barking of her dogs woke her up and then she heard her fence rattle.
Hussain said when she checked the house, she found the kitchen curtain on fire. While attempting to extinguish that fire, she heard the sound of glass breaking and then saw her living room windows were broken and the curtains were also on fire.
“My son run out and we try to [put] out the fire and then we heard a loud banging like wood banging on the door,” the distraught woman said.
Chung was trying to gain entry into the house by banging on the front door.
“All of us run to my bedroom, along with my son, I had my daughter and a friend, her five-year-old son and another person,” Hussain said.
She said they heard footsteps in the house and then Chung started shouting and asking where she was. The woman explained that she managed to escape from her bedroom through an exit door and ran to neighbours for help.
“I ran out, jumped the fence and run down at the back of the street for a neighbour to help me,” Hussain recounted.
When she returned, she found Chung beating their son.
Prior to this incident, Samantha said she did not see or hear from Chung for five months and so, she thought her life was back to normal.
“Since I heard he got locked up, then I feel safe to sleep, other than that if he come out there from bail, I don’t think I will be safe,” the woman stated.
Chung was imprisoned for three years after he was caught with narcotics in 2017.
In June of this year, he was also charged with allegedly robbing and assaulting a 53-year-old woman at her Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara house.
After he was released from prison last year, he wanted to rekindle the relationship with Hussain but when she refused, he threatened to kill her on numerous occasions.
“When he come back out of prison, he keep going after me, that he want me back and I don’t want the relationship anymore; because of the constant abuse for years and then the fact that he went to prison, I had enough of it,” Hussain revealed.
