Woman Stabs Man to Death

Woman stabs man to death

By VASHTEE ACHIBAR 

Wednesday, February 27 2013

GRIEVING relatives of Akins Tannis, 31, who was stabbed to death by a woman on Monday night, yesterday demanded justice. Speaking at the family’s Ste Madeleine home, relatives insisted that the real story is not being told and Akins was being painted as the aggressor while his killer, is being made to look like the victim. A 26-year-old woman is in custody assisting police in their investigations.

Relatives said that the woman who stabbed Akins, father of a five-year-old girl, was the aggressor who had a history of quarrels with him and recently, smashed his cellphone at their home because he was speaking to his daughter’s mother.

San Fernando police were called to Chishlon Street off Chacon Street San Fernando after receiving a report that a man was stabbed. Relatives of the woman told police that Akins and the woman were arguing and during a struggle, she grabbed a knife and stabbed him once in the neck.

Police said that Akins went to the home of the woman at 10.30 pm on Monday and an hour later he was stabbed. Akins was rushed to the San Fernando General Hospital where he died three hours later.

WPC Knight and Constable Ogunsheye of the San Fernando Police Station went to the scene and later detained the young woman. A party of officers from the Southern Homicide Investigations Bureau led by Insp Noel visited the scene along with officers of the Crime Scenes Unit.

Akins’ older brother Kirby Kern Tannis, 34, said his brother was at home with him when sometime after 9 pm, he (the deceased) received a call from a woman asking if he was was still passing by her. Tannis said his brother soon left. He also claimed that his brother and that woman regularly argued with each other.

Tannis said that at 2.14 am yesterday, hospital officials called the family informing them that Akins had been stabbed. With tears in his eyes, Tannis said that when he and other relatives rushed over to the hospital, his brother was already dead.

“There is a big stab wound to the neck, the doctor said the knife severed an artery and he lost a lot of blood. I want the truth. I am hearing so many different versions of what happened. Above all, I want justice for my brother. He was a very quiet person. He was a good brother. He was a very neat person,” Tannis cried.

Akins’ uncle, Eric Tannis wept yesterday as he spoke about his newphew. “We were close, he and I. He was my sister’s son and I loved him as if he were mine,” Tannis said. He said that shortly before he got the news that Akins was dead, he (Eric) saw a dead butterfly on his (the victim) bed.

“It was a sign. He was real cool. That woman gone and kill my sister’s child,” Tannis cried.

Akins’ mother and his two sisters, who live in the United States, are expected in the country later this week with the funeral set for next week. PC Ramkumar is investigating.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,174082.html

Children are Impacted by Domestic Violence

 

 

Children seeing ‘ghost’ of dead mom

Published:  Friday, February 15, 2013

Radhica Sookraj

PHOTO: KRISTIAN DE SILVA

Visions of their dead mother continue to haunt Nicholas and Nicolette Rampersad, days after they witnessed a relative strangle her with his bare hands at their Penal home. The children, aged eight and nine, respectively, are in desperate need of psychological counselling as they are “seeing the ghost” of Stella Rampersad, 30, walking about their Moolchand Trace, Penal Rock Road, home.

They have been unable to eat or sleep since Rampersad was beaten and strangled around 6 pm on Friday. Their six-week-old baby step-sister Rianna Thakur was left lying in her crib when the woman was murdered. During an interview yesterday, the children’s grandmother Latchmin Rajpat, 60, said she was worried about her grandchildren who are yet to receive counselling. “The police told me that they will get counselling after the funeral but these children suffering so much,” Rajpat said. So deep is the children’s trauma that they are afraid to be by themselves.

“If I have to go by the bathroom, they following me and waiting outside the door. They telling me that they scared,” Rajpat said. “He (Nicholas) tells me that mummy is standing there cleaning the house. He sees her sweeping, opening the toilet and washing his clothes.” Rajpat said the children have become withdrawn and were crying incessantly. They have also started showing “animosity” towards the six-week-old baby, Rajpat said. “I heard them telling the little baby that their mother may have died but they still had their father and that Rianna’s (relative) killed their mother,” Rajpat said.

She noted that Rampersad started seeing the suspect secretly two years ago. She then left Nicholas and Nicolette and went to live with him at Debe. However, she never knew her daughter was being abused. Six months ago the couple moved back to Moolchand Trace. “I know they used to quarrel a lot but I did not think it would come to this,” Rajpat said. She explained that it will be difficult to care for Rianna but she was determined to do so. She expressed gratitude to Nicolette and Nicholas’ father Russel Rampersad who assists in caring for them.

Rampersad’s funeral is expected to take place today from 9 am. A 30-year-old Guyanese national is expected to be charged with her murder.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-02-15/children-seeing-%E2%80%98ghost%E2%80%99-dead-mom

Man Stabs Wife in Bar

 

Man stabs wife in bar

Thursday, February 14 2013

VIKASH PERAI was not too pleased when on Carnival Monday, he saw his common- law wife in a bar on Mucurapo Street, San Fernando.

There was an argument and a fight ensued. Both Perai and common-wife, Shaffina Mohammed, ended up at hospital and yesterday they found themselves before Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington, in San Fernando.

Perai, 44, was charged with stabbing Mohammed with a broken bottle.

Perai wore a large bandage across his forehead, which appeared to be smeared with blood, when he stood before the magistrate. Mohammed was seated with bandages on her left arm. Perai pleaded guilty to the charge.

Wellington asked Perai why he stabbed Mohammed with a bottle and Perai said, “Sir I didn’t.” But the magistrate informed him that his common-law wife had a four-centimetre laceration on her arm and a three-centimetre cut on her shoulder. He fined Perai $5,000 or 12 months hard labour.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,173408.html

Rihanna and Chris Brown

Rihanna and Chris Brown are proof that domestic violence is everyone’s business

Posted by Michelle Bernard on February 11, 2013 at 10:16 am

 

(Christopher Polk — Getty Images)

A few weeks after the 2009 Grammys, photos released of R&B soul singer Rihanna’s face after her then-boyfriend Chris Brown had assaulted her were explanation enough as to why she had not appeared at the Grammys just a few weeks earlier. She had been brutally assaulted by Brown.

In a November 2009 interview with Diane Sawyer, Rihanna told Sawyer that it takes “eight or nine” incidents of domestic violence before one leaves an abusive relationship. Moreover, she told Sawyer that “When I realized that my selfish decision for love could result into some young girl getting killed, I could not be easy with that part. I couldn’t be responsible … If Chris never hit me again, who’s to say that their boyfriend won’t … kill these girls”.  Rihanna told young girls, “”Don’t react off of love. F love.”

Conventional wisdom was that the relationship was over — Rihanna would become a role model to women around the world, and through her actions, would demonstrate that no man is worth it.

Fast forward three years.

In an August 2012 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Rihanna told Winfrey  that she had lost  her “best friend” (Brown) in one moment.  She said that “It was a weird, confusing space to be in, because as angry as I was … I just felt he made that mistake because he needed help. [And I wondered], who’s going to help him?” Rihanna continued, telling Winfrey that “No one’s going to say, ‘He needs help.’  Everybody’s going to say, ‘He’s a monster. Without looking at the source.’”

Three months later, in her seventh studio album, “Unapologetic,” Rihanna and Brown recorded a song together entitled “Nobody’s Business.”

In the Jan. 31 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, after officially reuniting with Brown, Rihanna told contributing editor Josh Eells, “I decided it was more important for me to be happy. I wasn’t going to let anybody’s opinion get in the way of that. Even if it’s a mistake, it’s my mistake. After being tormented for so many years, being angry and dark, I’d rather just live my truth and take the backlash. I can handle it.”

Then, last week, to the utter shock and dismay of men and women all over the world, Rihanna, blowing kisses at Brown, accompanied him to a probation hearing where prosecutors argued that he had failed to complete his 180 days of community labor, which he had agreed to after pleading guilty to felonious assault in 2009.

In part, the lyrics to “Nobody’s Business” provide that “It ain’t nobody’s business. It ain’t nobody’s business. You’ll always be mine. Sing it to the world. Always be my boy, always be my girl. Ain’t nobody’s business. Ain’t nobody’s business. Ain’t nobody’s business, but mine and my baby.”

But domestic violence, the propensity of some to accept it, its causes, and its aftermath is everyone’s business.

As a society, we must ask ourselves what is it that happens in the rearing of children in virtually every culture and at every socio-economic level that raises girls and boys who are willing to stay in, or go back to physically and/or verbally abusive relationships.

There are many reasons why women (and men) in abusive relationships don’t leave. Money (the lack thereof); children; child custody concerns; a lack of adequate protection through the criminal justice system; poverty and the possibility of homelessness are all issues that immediately come to mind.

But, what about the case of women of means who can leave and choose to stay? What about cases like Rihanna where one leaves an abusive relationship and then chooses to go back to it knowing full well that this self-bondage puts one at constant risk of physical and/or verbal abuse?

According to Tricia Bent-Goodley, a professor of Social Work at Howard University and author of “The Ultimate Betrayal: A Renewed Look at Intimate Partner Violence,” “What this story tells us is that domestic violence doesn’t discriminate and that it can occur no matter how wealthy you are, how beautiful you are or how smart you are.”

Moreover, Bent-Goodley states that “It is so much easier for us to focus on one individual – why doesn’t she just leave – it is much harder for us to focus on ourselves and our communities – what are the messages we send that keep women being abused in abusive relationships? Our silence and our own inability to champion this issue fosters a sense that domestic violence is not an issue. We need more courageous people to stand against domestic violence.”

Bent-Goodley asserts that what we see with Rihanna and Brown and in numerous incidents of domestic violence is not just one issue, but a combination of many factors. Stigma, not wanting to be associated with domestic violence, fear of losing social stature, cultural beliefs that physical abuse is a normal part of being in a relationship, and romanticizing what your relationship used to be versus what it actually is and whatever is actually going on internally with the individual who has been victimized that leads them to stay (or go back to an abuser), are just some of the many issues we must look at as a nation in order to halt this crime.

As an African-American woman myself, I couldn’t help but ask Bent-Goodley about the complicated issue of domestic violence in our communities. Bent-Goodley asserts that in the African-American community, one of the issues many black, female victims of domestic violence face is not wanting to put a black man at the mercy of the criminal justice system.

As Bent-Goodley told me, “While domestic violence impacts all communities, black women are further burdened with the fear of going to the police and the courts because they don’t want to turn black men over to the criminal justice system. They don’t want to bring shame to the community and they don’t want others to think negatively about them and about black men because they have the added dimension of racism and discrimination to contend with. It can be a crippling burden no matter your economic status.”

After watching Brown watching Rihanna’s performance at the Grammys last night, I couldn’t help but to ask once again what we can do to teach our daughters that no man is worth abuse?

According to Ludy Green, president and founder of Second Chance Employment Services, the first and only employment placement agency in the United States for domestic violence victims, “By helping our daughters understand that we do not need to depend on any man, we have the capacity to do whatever we wish or desire intellectually as well as physically. First, we have to be an example to our daughters to maintain relationships in the home characterized by mutual respect and affection.   No man is worthy to take away our peace of mind or distress us on a regular basis. Respect and understanding is key to a well-functioning relationship.”

In 1923, in “Any Woman’s Blues,” jazz legend Bessie Smith sang “Every woman in my fix is bound to feel blue too, cause I love my man better than I love myself … and if he don’t have me, he won’t have anybody else.” Maybe what we need to teach our daughters and sons is that not only is this everyone’s business, the key to happiness is loving yourself first.
 

Michelle D. Bernard is the president & CEO of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics & Public Policy.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/she-the-people/wp/2013/02/11/rihanna-and-chris-brown-are-proof-that-domestic-violence-is-everyones-business/

Woman’s Throat Slashed After Argument

Woman’s throat slashed after argument

Published:  Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Derek Achong

 

A 20-year-old woman remained warded in hospital after her throat was slashed during an argument with a man on Monday morning. According to reports, around 4 am on Monday, Renata Mitchell, of North Manzanilla Road, Manzanilla was in her bedroom when she had an argument with the 24-year-old man. 

Police said while they were arguing, the man became violent and took a knife from the kitchen. He then slashed the left side of Mitchell’s throat before running out of the house with the weapon. Mitchell was taken to the Sangre Grande District Hospital where she was treated. She was in a serious condition up to late yesterday.

Doctors told police  Mitchell was lucky to be alive as the slash wound missed several major blood vessels in her neck. Investigators were  searching for the man up to late yesterday.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2013-02-06/woman%E2%80%99s-throat-slashed-after-argument

Murders of Concern to Police Service

Murders of concern to Police Service

Friday, January 25 2013

ALTHOUGH the murder rate for the year, as of yesterday is lower than that of 2012 (for the corresponding period), the Police Service remains “very concerned” about these murders and other criminal activities.

Speaking at the weekly police press briefing at the Police Administration Building along Edward Street, Port-of-Spain, ASP Joanne Archie yesterday said that the Police Service wants to assure the public that they were doing all in their powers to address the issue.

“The current (murder) figure as it stands, is a concern for us. In fact, every murder will be a concern for us, because it is human lives that were are speaking about and we believe that one murder is one too many.

“Now recently there were discussions in which the Police Service heads went through certain issues and strategies that will be implemented and I can assure you when a decision is reached, the public will be made aware of them,” Archie said.

As of yesterday, the murder toll according to Newsday’s records stood at 30. For the same period in 2012, the murder toll was 34.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,172516.html

Hazel: Stop the Violence

By Anna Ramdass

Story Created: Jan 15, 2013 at 10:16 PM ECT

Story Updated: Jan 16, 2013 at 3:40 PM ECT 

 

Gender-based violence is on the rise in this country and it must be stopped.

This, according to Hazel Brown, head of the network of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) of Trinidad and Tobago for the Advancement of Women.

In a release to the press, Brown affirmed the continuing need to deal with gender-based violence as it occurs at all levels of the society, to break the silence and oppose the impunity around it.

She stated that a second form of violence “is inflicted on women by the fact that perpetrators who hold high office or who are public figures, rarely face any form of justice. They know that they can do it without paying the price”.

“We continue to advocate for individual and collective responses by men that move beyond apologies to actually formulating and participating in processes of transformation and change. We must examine the root causes and the impact of gender-based violence including verbal and emotional abuse, and we most develop strategies to address it including appropriate sanctions, legal and otherwise,” stated Brown.

She added that it is not just the individual perpetrator, who must be held accountable, but also the community and the state, which cannot stand idly by and watch women being denied support and justice in their time of need.

Brown stated that there is much that could be done to enable men in public office to lead a reflective conversation on masculinity and violence.

Source:  http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Hazel-Stop-the-violence-187051901.html

Woman Knew Her Killer

Woman knew her killer

Wednesday, January 16 2013

RELATIVES of murder victim Lorna Cheryl Adams are convinced the 50-year-old woman knew her killer. Adams’ body was discovered at about 8.30 pm on Sunday by one of her children on the floor of her Sundarsingh, Aranjuez home. She was stabbed several times.

Speaking at the Forensic Science Centre, St James yesterday, Adams’ youngest child Keisha, explained that the family believes her mother’s killer was known to her (the victim) as very little had been taken from the house and there were no signs of forced entry.

“We think the person had to have known my mother. My mother was a person who always used to lock up her home tight, especially at night or when she was alone. From what we have gathered from the police and what we saw ourselves, there was no sign of forced entry,” Keisha said.

“Which means the person who killed her walked in the home and knowing my mother, that meant the person was allowed in. I wasn’t there, so all these things I don’t know for certain, but it seems most likely,” she added.

Keisha described her mother as a kind and compassionate woman, who used to enjoy dressing up and going out.

“She was the best mom. She was always there for us and always had advice for us. Keep in mind she always used to pick up on us if we ever got out of hand and sometimes we would have disagreements arising out of that, but that was nothing unusual. That was her being a good mother and looking out for her children,” Keisha said.

Investigations are continuing.

Source:  http://www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,172053.html

Come See Us Feburary 9th

Supported by Women of Vision of Tacoma the Dragonfly Centre will be at the upcoming Asian Pacific New Year for the second year. If you are in the Tacoma, Washington area we would love to see you.

Top Cop Wishes End to Violence in the New Year

Published:  Friday, December 21, 2012

ANNA-LISA PAUL

“I want that people can just share love with each other and my vision is for citizens to walk every part of T&T free from any form of interference and crime.” This is the wish of acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams for the citizens of this country as 2013 approaches.

Williams made the disclosure when asked by reporters on Wednesday what he wanted to see in the coming year as he spoke of a reduction in violent crime in the past four months. Speaking at a promotion exercise at the Police Administration Building, Port-of-Spain, Williams said while the police service was forging ahead with its plan to make T&T safer, it was his personal wish to get to the point “where crime is not a dominant issue on the lips of every citizen.”

He said: “T&T has been struck with too much violence over the years. We need to see the disappearance of violence from our society,” the acting top officer said. “All that we can do as an organisation, we will do it, but we are beseeching citizens to think twice before they act in a violent manner.”

Williams said the police service stood ready to assist in the area of anger management and that all resources would be directed towards helping citizens.


Boasting of a major reduction in serious crimes, especially violent crimes for the period September to November, Williams said: “We were averaging 35.5 murders per month for the first eight months of the year but for September, October and November, we averaged 25 murders per month. We are hoping to keep it at 25 or even less for the month of December.”

Attributing this reduction to the improved partnerships at the community level, a smiling Williams said: “The police service has received extensive co-operation from the general public in the last four months and that has helped us to improve our delivery of policing services across the country. We shall surely win the battle against crime and criminality as we continue to work in partnership.”

Urging business owners to call on the police for assistance whenever necessary, especially during the Christmas season, Williams vowed: “We are doing everything possible so while the public is out enjoying, we will be policing to make T&T a safer place for all. We aim to continue the good work seen over the last four months as we continue to reach out to the people of T&T for their continued co-operation and support.”

Asked what the police service counted as its major challenge in 2012, Williams said it was constantly being challenged in the area of crime statistics, as the official homicide count for 2012 up to Tuesday stood at 405. “While we recognise that sometimes in educating the nation on issues around crime might be important, as there were 405 homicides in T&T up to yesterday (Tuesday), there is a major distinction between homicides and murders.”

Williams said homicides included murders, police killings, matters where the Director of Public Prosecutions ruled that a defendant should be charged with murder, and unnatural deaths. “There is conflict and confusion with numbers, but it is really about a misunderstanding as it relates to terminology.


You hear the executive speaking about murders and this conflicts with homicides, because some people use the terms interchangeably. But they are clearly two distinct terms,” he explained.

He said the official murder toll up to Tuesday stood at 365. Asked about  initiatives in place to fight crime in Laventille and surrounding communities, Williams said: “We continue to work with Laventille and surrounding communities in a focused and special way. The emphasis is on this because close to 26 percent of murders for 2012 have occurred in Laventille and the surrounding communities.”

“It is a small geographical space in T&T responsible for an extremely large percentage of violent crimes, and from a policing perspective, it is critical for us to focus on this small geographical space to make a difference on the national average. We will be moving forward by engaging people to improve life for those residents, and we believe we can see a resultant drop if we continue to do what we have already started.”

Source:  http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-12-21/top-cop-wishes-end-violence-new-year

Magistrates Shun Cases of Domestic Violence

 

Rape Crisis director: 

Magistrates shun cases of domestic violence

Published:  Friday, December 14, 2012

Camille Clarke

 

Marian Taylor, director of the Rape Crisis Society, says magistrates do not show an interest in cases of domestic violence and this needs to change with workshops and education programmes. Taylor was speaking during the commemoration of the conclusion of the 16 days of activism on the elimination of gender-based violence at City Hall, Port-of-Spain.

The forum was a collaboration between the Rape Crisis Society (RCS) and the Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CADV). Taylor said the court was the only medium to treat with domestic violence in a professional manner. She added: “I am of the view that magistrates are not interested in those reports. It is a system where your matter can be transferred to another court or traffic court and only a magistrate who has a keen interest should be in those courts.”

Taylor said everyone should take an interest in people who were victims of domestic violence, even neighbours. She added: “Children become dysfunctional at an early age and end up being part of our criminal society. Domestic violence is everybody’s business.

You can’t count on the Government or judiciary alone. You need to take responsibility and report it. If we were in that situation you would like someone to assist you.” Taylor said there were and are workshops which included magistrates to sensitise them to the issues.

Dr Varma Deyalsingh, board member of Aspire (Advocates for Safe Parenthood) and general secretary of the Association of Psychiatrists, said victims should leave abusive relationships. He noted there was a rise in violence worldwide which had many contributing factors.

“We are not just seeing problems with impulse control. It is easy to act out emotional stress which is a part of impulsive aggression and violent behaviour,” he added. Deyalsingh said the recent violent act against a child in which her cheeks were allegedly bitten by a relative could have been due to his childhood, jealousy towards the child, pathological problems, use of illicit drugs, lack of food and sex.

He said violent behaviour also could also be caused by a chemical imbalance or a stroke. “A perpetrator could have lost it in a fit of rage and act out on the child or to get back at the mother. We are all human and we can lose it. We need to analyse it,” he said.

Deyalsingh said more shelters for the abused were needed and warned that one consequence of abuse was depression. He added: “A child could also be depressed and the social system should have shelters and other things in place to deal with this upcoming tsunami of depression.

We are seeing impulse-control rage, road rage and violence and this could be due to a mindset. “Leave, put them in their place or get out of the situation, or it will form into a habit.” Deyalsingh said working women were under pressure and women also suffered from depression.

Patricia Jessop, general manager of CADV, said magistrates and police needed to be trained on the issue of domestic violence. She said: “Members of the protective services need to emphasise to people who are abused and all the services need to be aware.

“Men need to stand up and help other buddies. Abused people are fragile because of control. It has multi-factorial aspects. Confidence is stripped away and you will have no self-will.” Marcus Kissoon, another director of the RCS, said in 2011 there were 278 victims seeking treatment at the centre, 25 per cent of whom were men.

Source: www.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-12-14/rape-crisis-director-magistrates-shun-cases-domestic-violence

Chops and Poison

Chops and poison

By KARL E. CUPID Tobago Bureau Friday, December 14 2012

AUTOPSIES yesterday confirmed that multiple chops and ingestion of a poisonous liquid caused the deaths of Belinda Solomon-Sobers and her lover Daniel Benjamin, respectively.

The autopsies were done at the mortuary of the Scarborough Hospital by pathologist Dr Eastlyn McDonald Burris. Solomon-Sobers, 36, a mother of three was hacked to death at her Coral Gardens, Buccoo home on Tuesday.

Her killer, Benjamin, later died near Solomon-Sobers’ house after ingesting a poisonous liquid substance. Benjamin, 56, of Old Grange, was a wood-worker who operated a wood-working shop at his home located not too far from Solomon-Sobers’ home.

Meanwhile, Solomon-Sobers’ 13-year-old daughter, who was also chopped by Benjamin in the murderous attack was yesterday discharged from the Scarborough Hospital, where she was warded following the incident.

“She is all right; she is just normal…for now,” stated a relative yesterday. According to police reports, Solomon-Sobers who was separated from her husband, and Benjamin, who lived with his wife and family, were involved in a romantic relationship.

Benjamin was a joiner who operated a wood-work furniture shop, while Solomon-Sobers was employed as a maid at a commercial bank in Scarborough. During the course of the relationship, Benjamin reportedly funded and carried out repairs to Solomon-Sobers’ home as well as provided her with household furnishings and other personal items.

Residents in the area said things turned sour when Benjamin realised that Solomon-Sobers was reconciling with her husband.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,170633.html

Tobago - Murder / Suicide

MURER/ SUICIDE ROCK TOBAGO

By KARL E CUPID Tobago Bureau Wednesday, December 12 2012

IT WAS A case of murder after the love had died.

A Tobago man, enraged that his lover had brought in another man to live at her home which he (the first man) spent money to refurbish, yesterday chopped the mother of three to death before taking his own life by ingesting a poisonous substance.

The murder/suicide rocked Tobago and was the main topic of discussion yesterday. Police said Belinda Solomon-Sobers, 36, had no chance whatsoever of surviving the vicious chops she received at the hands of her lover Daniel Benjamin, 56. Her 13-year-old daughter who was also chopped, is now warded at the Scarborough Hospital.

The house of death at Orchid Lane in Coral Gardens, Buccoo remained locked tight yesterday even as neighbours and passersby stopped to speak among themselves on what had transpired in the usually quiet, laid back area.

Police said the circumstances surrounding the murder/suicide were bizarre as Benjamin was married and living with his wife and family while Solomon-Sobers was also married and also had a family, yet the two were romantically involved.

Police said Benjamin was a joiner who operated a woodwork and furniture shop at his Old Grange home while Solomon-Sobers, lived about 800 metres away from him. The female victim was employed as a maid at a commercial bank in Scarborough.

Police further reported when Solomon-Sobers fell out with her husband, he left their marital home and Benjamin intensified his relationship with her. Benjamin furnished his lover’s home including all of the wooden furniture which he built himself at his woodwork shop. He also spent money to purchase household items. It was to be his home away from home just as Solomon-Sobers was his lover on the side even though he was married.

For a while things went well with Benjamin and Solomon-Sobers as they continued their relationship. But, police said, the love between Benjamin and Solomon-Sobers soured and then died when the latter told the former that she wanted to reconcile with her husband.

For several days before the murder/suicide, residents told Newsday, Benjamin confronted Solomon-Sobers in heated, physical arguments at her house. So much so, the residents claimed several reports were made to the Old Grange Police Station but officers never responded.

“She take back she husband,” stated a woman who said she was a close friend of Solomon-Sobers but who did not want to be identified.

Police reported things took a turn for the worst when Solomon-Sobers and her husband were seen by Benjamin in her house, the same place which he (Benjamin) spent time and money to “fix-up” for her.

At eight o’clock yesterday morning, police reported, Benjamin went to the house armed with a sharpened cutlass. At the time, Solomon-Sobers was changing her clothes and getting ready for work.

Benjamin forced his way into the house and started to attack Solomon-Sobers chopping her several times. She died on the scene. Benjamin then attacked and chopped the teenaged girl, severing one of her fingers in the process.

He then drank a poisonous substance and left the house. He only got as far as 200 metres from the house of death, collapsing and dying in a garden patch near the Buccoo/Shirvan Road junction. The police were then called in and the areas around the house and Benjamin’s body were cordoned off as police began their investigations. The wounded teen was rushed to hospital where she received emergency treatment.

When Newsday visited the home of Solomon-Sobers’ mother Barbara Solomon-Roberts in Canaan, relatives reported that Barbara, a mother of six, was resting and could not be interviewed. Jane Duncan, a first-cousin of the victim, told Newsday she was very upset over what had happened.

“It’s not supposed to be like that! Everybody have their life to live. You live yours and I live mine. That is not a fowl...you just can’t get up and chop up a person like that! It’s time for people to stop this stupidness,” Duncan cried.

“I am very upset and he is lucky that he chose to end his own life too because he would have gotten what was going to come to him,” the emotional woman said. Solomon-Sobers’ sister Dannielle Solomon, posted a mournful note last night on her Facebook page: “Not even a last goodbye...can’t hear her voice, can’t see her smile; in the blink of an eye...she was gone! Why?”

Investigations are continuing.

Source: http://newsday.co.tt/news/0,170493.html

Violence Still Pressing Issue

 

Rambachan: Violence still pressing issue

Published: Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Melissa Doughty

 

Acting Health Minister Dr Suruj Rambachan said yesterday approximately 2,300 of the world’s children die daily from injury-related complications. He was speaking at the launch of the national stakeholder workshop to develop a strategic planning for injuries, violence prevention and control. The event was held at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre.

Guests included representatives of Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) members of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and Brent Batson, of the National Road Safety Council. He said according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) approximately 1.5 million people die yearly as a consequence of violence.

“Even within the 21st-century, with the development of new technologies and a greater expanse of education to the masses, injury and violence is still a pressing global issue,” he added. Citing injury-related deaths as one of the most challenging global health issues of this century, Rambachan said five million people die from injury-related incidents yearly. He said over the last 15 years, legislation was passed to help prevent violence and injury-related deaths.

The legislation included:
• Motor Vehicle and Road Traffic Act 2007
• Domestic Violence Act 1999
•Offences against the Person (Amendment) (Harassment) Act 2005
• Occupational Safety and Health Act 2004.

Rambachan also called for greater public awareness of the issue. The workshop also looked at a situation analysis of injury and violence in T&T, unintentional-injury prevention and the global decade of action for road safety 2011-2020 and other issues.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-12-05/rambachan-violence-still-pressing-issue