Relatives say teacher who murdered grandmother grappled with post-partum depression

The 22-year-old Essequibo teacher who is accused of murdering her grandmother has been grappling with post-partum depression, relatives have told the News Room.

Had she been diagnosed and treated, relatives believe she would not have committed the gruesome act.

Agatha Gamell of Charity, Essequibo Coast was found with her throat slit in the wee hours of Sunday. Police released chilling details hours after the murder and said Gamell’s hair was cut off and that the granddaughter had wandered over to the neighbour and attempted to hand over her one-month-old baby, claiming the child was dead.

Gamell’s daughter, Simone Gamell, told the News Room that the night before, the young woman rubbed salt all over her mother’s skin and plastered her face with lime.

Simone said the teacher started acting strangely just after giving birth to her first child.

“My niece living with my sister and since she delivered her first baby she fell into depression,” Simone told the News Room.

Simone said she is still in disbelief at her mother’s horrific death and could not fathom that her niece would commit such an act.

Simone detailed that after delivering her baby, the teacher was extremely jealous of anyone touching the infant and accused family members of trying to take her baby away from her.

A day before the incident, the teacher accused her husband of being unfaithful and left for her grandmother’s house. Simone said she was looking for a place to stay.

“I believe she was dealing with a lot and if she had gotten help then I believe that my mother death would have been avoided,” a grieving Simone stated.

She added that her mother was badly battered and unrecognisable.

“When I look at her, she was battered badly, her face was covered in blood, there was wounds on her arm. I didn’t know where her eyes were how she was so battered,” Simone recalled.

According to Simone, doctors told the family that the teacher is displaying signs of post-partum depression.

The teacher is expected to undergo a psychological evaluation as police continue their investigations.

Relatives say that sending the teacher to jail will not help.

According to the Police, on Sunday at about 04:00 hrs, a neighbour reported that she heard loud screams, tramping and crying of a baby coming from the home: this lasted for about fifteen minutes.

The teacher then knocked on the neighbour’s door and attempted to hand over her baby. Police were then contacted: when they arrived, they found Gamell’s body lying face up on a floormat in the kitchen.

The body was examined and one large wound was seen behind the neck and one to the right-side temple. Also, two large wounds were seen on the back of the elderly woman’s head. All of her hair was cut off and placed on the kitchen floor.

A pair of scissors with blood stains were found on top of a gas stove. A broken glass jar was found on the floor next to the body and cooking salt was seen scattered on the floor.

The suspect was later arrested along with her baby who the police say seem to be in good health.

The suspect was seen with injuries on her right hand. When questioned by the Police, she claimed that she does not know how she received her injuries