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Non-Profit, 501(c)(3)

Mission:
The Dragonfly Centre is committed to the elimination of domestic violence against women and their children by providing victim friendly services that promotes the empowerment of survivors; through advocacy, public awareness and education and community based initiatives.

Vision: The Dragonfly Centre envisions a world free of violence against women and their children and social justice for all. We are founded on the vision and belief that every person has the right to live in a safe environment free from violence and the fear of violence and strive to work collaboratively with the community to provide victim friendly services to support domestic violence victims, survivors to the stage of thriving.

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Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Family Violence in Tobago

Man stabbed to death
By KARL E CUPID, Tobago Bureau Tuesday, October 2 2012
IN WHAT is the fifth murder in Tobago for this year, a 32-year-old man was stabbed to death early yesterday morning by a male relative in full view of horrified students and school staff making their way to the Speyside High School in the North-East of the sister isle.
The killing is said to have occurred at about 6.45am. Delroy Cordner of Speyside was pronounced dead at the scene by the District Medical Officer who arrived several hours after Cordner was stabbed repeatedly on the left side of his chest.

His body was ordered removed from the scene by the District Medical Officer to the Scarborough Hospital mortuary where efforts were being made yesterday for an autopsy to be done.

A suspect, in his 30s, also of Speyside who police said is a relative of the deceased was taken into police custody shortly after the murder.

Cordner’s bloodstained body lay uncovered for several hours in a recreation ground not too far from the High School where he collapsed shortly after running away from his attacker.

A large crowd of villagers including Cordner’s relatives gathered near the recreation ground of the community which is some 23 miles from Tobago’s capital Scarborough. As the crowd stared at Cordner’s body, the suspect — Cordner’s relative — calmly sat handcuffed inside a marked police van, while investigators processed the crime scene.

Cordner’s body was subsequently covered with a sheet provided by a villager. Several villagers described the victim as a “menace” in the district. They accused the dead man of “distressing” residents while alive, with repeated acts of petty theft.

Other villagers countered by saying whatever his shortcomings, Cordner was, “a human being created by God” and should not have been killed in that manner. According to an eyewitness report, as related to police, the suspect who operated a roadside parlour selling fruits and vegetables confronted Cordner yesterday morning and accused him of repeatedly breaking into the parlour and stealing goods.

The eyewitness reported that the argument turned violent when both men started to throw stones at each other in front of the parlour. Cordner, the eyewitness told police, ran off only to return later holding some unknown object wrapped in paper.

As Cordner confronted his relative at the front of the parlour, the latter grabbed a knife and stabbed him several times in his chest. Cordner, the eyewitness said, ran off and collapsed in the recreation ground where he eventually bled to death.

As Cordner’s body lay in the grass, eyewitnesses reported, the suspect stood nearby smoking a cigarette as he waited for the police to arrive. A party of officers from Charlotteville Police Station arrived on the scene and the suspect was arrested.

For the past four weeks, three of Tobago’s five murders for 2012, were committed. In the early part of September, a woman gardener was stabbed and chopped in her garden while in the middle of September, an elderly man was chopped in his head and killed by a male relative. Investigations are continuing.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,167028.html

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