Pensioner beaten to death by Grandson — wrench seized

 

Myrna Sahibram

 

Killer tried to wake her up

Wednesday, July 11 2012.

THE grandson of pensioner Myrna Sahibram, 68, — the elder woman who was beaten to death with a wrench — yesterday told Newsday that after killing the woman at her Grant’s Trace, Rousillac home Monday afternoon, the killer called family members and said he was trying to wake-up Sahibram.

On Monday afternoon, La Brea police responded to a report that a man had struck a woman with a wrench on her head. They arrived to find the deceased covered in blood lying on a couch. Nearby, the mother of four lay dead on a couch in the house where she lived with her husband Ralph Sahibram, 73.

The woman’s grandson Leon Gayah Persad, 25, expressed shock when he heard of the incident, saying that his relative who has been held for killing Sahibram, never showed any violent tendency. The detained relative is a retired PTSC bus driver.

“Since I was small I never saw him act violently. He was always peaceful and really is a soft hearted person,” Persad said.

“Apparently, shortly after he struck my grandmother, he telephoned my mother (Sahibram’s daughter) and told her that Myrna not getting-up. The man told my mother that after he hit granny, she fell and when he tried to wake her up, she ignored him,” Persad said.

Another daughter of the victim Lystra Lall (Persad’s aunt) went to drop off groceries on Monday afternoon, not aware of her mother’s death, and walked into the house to see her mother dead on the couch and a male relative covered in the elderly woman’s blood walking aimlessly in the yard. Lall dropped the bag of groceries, jumped in her car and sped off.

La Brea police were called in. A blood-stained wrench was seized and the man taken away.

Police sources said that the suspect who remains in police custody, was up to yesterday still unaware that Sahibram was dead. Sources said he appeared confused.

An autopsy confirmed that death was due to blunt force trauma to the head. The autopsy was done at the Forensic Science Centre in St James. No charge has been made and investigations are continuing.

Source:  http://newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,163095.html

Pensioner beaten to death — wrench seized

Tuesday, July 10 2012

THE brutal murder of an elderly woman at the hands of a male relative yesterday has sent shock waves throughout the quiet community of Grants Trace in Rousillac.

As news of the brutal murder spread like wildfire, scores of villagers left their homes and rushed over to the home of Mona Sahibram, 68, and her husband, 73-year-old Ralph Sahibram, a retired PTSC bus driver.

The daughters of the murdered woman wept as neighbours and relatives huddled in groups talking in hushed tones about the brutal killing. Nearby, police and crime scene investigators went through their paces.

Police reported that Mrs Sahibram, a mother of four, was found bludgeoned to death inside her home. Police said that shortly after 2 pm, the elderly woman was heard arguing with a male relative and a short while later, her screams were heard.

A bloodied wrench was discovered near Moha’s body. Her head had been bashed in. Neighbours told Newsday that shortly after the killing, the male relative was seen eating and walking around the house with Mona’s blood staining his clothes. Relatives later said the male relative appeared to be oblivious to what had happened.

The male relative was detained by police at about seven o’clock last night. The body of the elderly woman was removed to the Forensic Sciences Centre in St James where an autopsy will be conducted today. Southern Division Homicide are continuing investigations.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,163044.html

Special Reserve Police Officer Charged for Stabbing Wife

SRP to be charged for stabbing wife

Thursday, July 5 2012

Charges are expected to be laid against a 54-year-old special reserve police officer who is accused of wounding his wife.

According to police reports, the officer, who ingested a deadly herbicide last Saturday, is “now out of the woods”.

Investigating officers say they have liaised with medical personnel who have stated the officer’s condition has improved.

The officer and his wife were rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital following a physical altercation.

Police sources say the officer, who has over 30 years service, remains warded under heavy police guard.

Reports state, the officer allegedly stabbed and planassed his wife.

The woman was stabbed on her stomach, arms and legs.

Police say the woman has already given a statement and is expected to be discharged tomorrow.

The couple resided at Fourth Street, Paradise Simeon Road, Petit Valley when, at about 11 pm, the officer and his wife started arguing. During the argument, the officer, who is based in the Western Division, reportedly expressed anger over the woman’s decision to attend a fete on Saturday. Reports claim the officer took a kitchen knife and stabbed his wife several times about the body. He then took a cutlass and began beating her with the flat side of it. The officer then ingested the herbicide. He then forced the bleeding woman into his car and drove to the St James Medical Infirmary where the couple were spotted by medical personnel and taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.

Source: http://newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,162787.html

Woman Stabbed by Relative

Woman stabbed by relative

By CECILY ASSON Friday, July 6 2012

A FEMALE security guard remains warded in serious condition at San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH) after she was stabbed multiple times by a close male relative yesterday during a dispute at her San Fernando home.

The victim Tish Thorpe, 30, of Simpson Brown Terrace, Cocoyea Village, San Fernando.

The incident, police said, happened in the presence of two children between the age of three and five. Thorpe is a mother of four.

Police are now looking for a 34-year-old unemployed man who fled the scene after he stabbed Thorpe. According to a police report, at about 11 am yesterday, Thorpe visited the Mon Repos Police Station and told officers that her life was being threatened by a man she knew.

Sgt Roopnarine accompanied by PC Eastman visited the home and warned the relative. In the presence of the police officers, the man agreed to leave and packed two bags and together with the officers left the house.

However, an hour later, officers received a call that Thorpe had been stabbed. On arrival, she was found at a neighbour’s home bleeding from stab wounds to her head, hands and back. She was rushed to the SFGH where she was treated and warded.

Police believe the suspect who returned to the house, gained entry through a back window.

He also damaged several household items. PC Eastman is continuing investigations.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,162849.html

Cop, Wife Stable

Cop, wife stable

Tuesday, July 3 2012

A 54-YEAR-OLD Special Reserve Police officer (SRP) and his 45-year-old wife are now listed as resting in a satisfactory condition at Port-of-Spain General Hospital where they were taken on Saturday night following an incident in which the officer is alleged to have stabbed his wife before ingesting a poisonous substance.

Police said the officer who has over 30 years service and was brought back on contract to work as an SRP following his retirement, remains warded under police guard.

Medical staff have told investigators the officer is out of danger and is expected to survive the suicide attempt.

The officer, ingested the deadly herbicide “Swiper” on Saturday night, after he stabbed and planassed (beat with flat side of cutlass) his wife Hazel Toussaint-Chadband.

Toussaint-Chadband was stabbed on her stomach, arms and legs. Police say they will be approaching the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions later this week to ascertain what charges could be laid.

The officer who is based in Western Division, lives with his wife at Fourth Street, Simeon Road, Petit Valley. The attempted murder/suicide is said to have taken place following a heated argument over Toussaint-Chadband’s decision to attend a fete against the policeman’s wishes.

After drinking the poison, the officer reportedly forced his bleeding, dazed wife into his car and drove to the St James Medical Infirmary where the couple was spotted by medical personnel and taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. Investigations are continuing.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,162683.html

War on Women in Trinidad and Tobago

War on women

By Andre Bagoo Sunday, July 1 2012

IN THE GARDEN of Eden, Adam blamed Eve for his fall from grace.

In a similar manner, the State appears to be waging a one-sided war against women and women only, when it comes to prosecuting cases of cruelty to children.

In the last two weeks alone, no less than four women have been hauled before the courts on various charges relating to the treatment of their children, according to reports in Newsday last week. A common factor in all of the cases was an absent father.

But while these charges and convictions have been hailed and welcomed by some, others ask: where are the men? Why have the men, who have fathered these children and – in some cases – abandoned them, not been held responsible? Should only women be held up for blame, in the way Eve alone was blamed for Adam’s wrong-doing?

“I want to know when the police are going to charge the fathers with neglect and abandonment,” said Diana Mahabir-Wyatt, who founded a shelter for women and children and served as an Independent Senator.

“None of those women in those cases had virgin births. If every one of those abandoned and neglected children has a male parent, it is logical to assume the male parent should bear equal responsibility under the law for the support and care of the children.”

She continued, “Until that happens, we will not have equality before the law. We will have what appears to be a war on women.”

On Monday, mother of four Kamla Ramcharan, 29, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

She was sentenced to three years in jail for holding her eight-year-old daughter Vishala’s hand over a hot flat iron plate (tawah) used for cooking. Ramcharan told the magistrate she was trying to teach her daughter a lesson about the wrongs of stealing by placing her daughter’s soft hand on the hot tawah.

“I not sorry for what I do,” she told Magistrate Gillian David-Scotland.

“I sure she not going to steal again.”

The child had suffered third degree burns to her left hand, likely to leave lingering effects for the rest of her life. In the end, the Magistrate had a lesson for Ramcharan.

“It is a heinous way to punish your child,” the Chaguanas Magistrate said.

“The child may have been innocent. Children did not ask to come in this world. When the police asked you about the incident, you showed no remorse, instead you said ‘you not sorry’. You will serve three years in jail.”

On Tuesday, a 50-year-old mother of seven was sentenced to nine months for beating her daughter after the nine-year-old reported to her – via a cousin — that she had been raped in 2003 by a male relative. She was charged under Section 31 (1) of the Sexual Offences Act last year. San Fernando Magistrate Alicia Chankar told the woman, “A mother serves as protector and as parents, we have a duty to care for our children.”

As if by clockwork, on Wednesday, another woman appeared in court charged with mistreating her children. This time it was Janelle Peters, a mother of three, charged with abandoning her children, Joella, Joel and Jaden Alton, at their Longdenville, Chaguanas home on Tuesday night. The charge was “willful neglect/abandonment in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury.” Peters was sent to jail pending bail and will be sentenced in August.

And then on Thursday, a woman pregnant with twins, Kezi Doughty, 33, was taken before Magistrate Chankar. The charge? Abandoning five of her nine children at King’s Wharf in San Fernando.

The cases have come amid persistent concerns over high levels of crime – expressed as recently as Friday by Minister of National Security Jack Warner. According to Superintendent Johnny Abraham, the State has been adopting a “zero tolerance” stance against crime and has been, lately, paying particular attention to dealing with any and all forms of abuse against children.

But the apparently unintended effect of this new effort has been to wage a war on women and not men, resulting in a manifestly unfair process, according to some.

All of the cases in the last few days involved absent fathers, some of whom have also clearly abandoned their children. While the mothers have been charged with neglect, none of the fathers have.

Warner, speaking with Sunday Newsday on Friday, argued one possible cause of the problem: the fathers cannot be found.

“They should be charged yes,” he said.

“But that is if they can be found.”

Yet, can the fathers be found? In the case of Peters and her three children left at King’s Wharf, the children said their father was at work at 10 o’clock at night. Lawyers said being at work is not a defence to the charge of neglect, though it may relate to sentencing.

In the case of pregnant Doughty, the Magistrate was driven to ask why the father of the five children who were abandoned was not also charged for abandonment.

As for the male relative who actually raped the girl who complained to her mother of rape, to her detriment, it is not clear if the man has been charged. It is also not clear if the girl’s father, too, was informed of what she reported and whether he, too, failed to report the case. The father seems to have not been in the picture, raising social – if not legal – questions.

The father in the case of the child whose hand was burnt on a tawah appears to be the exception. Though the girl missed school for a week, it was not teachers at the girl’s school who raised the alarm. It was her father. He reported the matter to the police. But after the woman was penalised last week, he seemed to harbour regrets over having done so. He told Newsday, “When I heard the news, I was lost for words because I never thought she would have been given such a stiff sentence. Although I resent what she did to our daughter, I have since forgiven her.”

A friend of the mother, who did not want to be named, said she often assisted the mother in caring for her children.

“This is harsh,” the friend said.

“That woman try hard but she is frustrated. Three years is too harsh for a mother. It have people doing worse than that and getting less jail.”

New law will apply to men and women

“I am not saying that the women are right,” Mahabir-Wyatt made clear.

“But it takes a village to raise a child. That is not just a saying. It takes both parents to make a child these days, not like in the old days when women had unilateral, miraculous, virgin births. Do you know how difficult it is to feed and clothe and raise a child?”

Mahabir-Wyatt agrees that if new legislation designed to protect children, passed in Parliament last month, is implemented, the law will make it clear that men, too, are responsible for children.

Section 4 of the Children’s Act entrenches the offence of cruelty to children, holding that an offence is made out, “Where a person has responsibility for a child and the person wilfully assaults, ill-treats, neglects, abandons or exposes the child or causes or procures the child to be assaulted, ill-treated, neglected, abandoned, or exposed in a manner likely to cause that child suffering or injury to his physical, mental or emotional health”.

The law, which was passed in June but is yet to be proclaimed, specifically mentions a hypothetical “he” who may seek to avoid responsibility by deserting a child.

The section which defines who has responsibility for a child reads, “Any person who is the parent or legal guardian of a child or who is legally liable to maintain a child is presumed to have responsibility for the child, and, any such person shall not be deemed to have ceased to have responsibility for the child by reason only that he has deserted, or otherwise does not reside with the child.”

“I am waiting to see those fathers being charged,” Mahabir-Wyatt said.

While she has concerns over the fairness of the enforcement of the current laws, Mahabir-Wyatt still thinks the cases send an important message. Even though many of the children involved in these cases will have to enter the foster care system, raising another set of ethical questions, the cases are important.

“I think what the cases are doing is pointing out that children need more than one parent,” she said.

The cases also act as a strong deterrent, discouraging parents from mistreating children through penalties.

“You see the kind of penalties the court is handing down now?” Warner noted on Friday.

“The court is handing down some strict penalties and I am very happy about that. Mothers must understand that they too are not above the law. And this is very good.” (He did not mention fathers.)

Yet others disagree that the penalties are as high as they could be.

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, Warner’s colleague, last week told Newsday that the mothers in all the cases seem to have gotten away.

“They get away, as they were not charged under the Children’s Act,” the Attorney General said when asked to comment on the status of that legislation and the recent cases.

“It’s a good question. It crossed my mind. I would say the legislation that has been passed would have treated things in a different way because it has a wider range of options available. I agree with you.”

The Children’s Act was finally passed in the House of Representatives on June 15, five months after it was first tabled. The act has not yet come into force as it has to be proclaimed on a date to be determined by President George Maxwell Richards, upon the advice of Cabinet. Yet, Ramlogan could not say how soon the act will be implemented.

“I have to check on that. Why don’t you call me on that?” he said. Under the Children’s Act there is a general offence of committing cruelty to a child which is punishable by a term of six years in prison and a fine of $5,000 if convicted at the Magistrates’ Court. Upon indictment at the High Court, the punishment moves to ten years in prison and a fine of $50,000.

Mahabir-Wyatt argued the sentence in the case of the child’s hand being burnt on a tawah was not stiff enough.

“If it was a big grown-up adult who had had someone assault them in that way, that would not be the sentence,” she said. New legislation alone, though, is not the answer, Mahabir-Wyatt maintained. She noted a need for institutions like the Children’s Authority to have enhanced powers to act on behalf of children. She also issued a call to the State to consider introducing more community police to detect crimes against children, and also the introduction of nurseries for single parents who have to work to support their children.

“The Children’s Authority should be given the support services that it needs to function,” she said, yet again.

“And every community in Trinidad and Tobago should have Government-supported Servol- styled nurseries and nursery schools for children whose mothers have to work to support them.”

Perhaps until such reforms are put in place and until the State’s unfair enforcement of laws against women ceases, women shall continue to be treated like second-class citizens. They will remain like Eve: regarded by the State as merely products of Adam’s rib.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,162598.html

Power of Kindness Movie

Power of Kindness Movie: I once heard someone say, "If you teach your children the Golden Rule, you will have left them an incalculable estate." Truer words were never spoken. More than anything, the Golden Rule is about kindness. They improve your relationship with yourself and with others. It's not much in fashion these days to talk about the benefits of kindness, honesty and decency, but the benefits are there and they are valuable and worth the trouble.

UWI STUDENTS GATHER OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT

For Immediate Release

Contact: 

Carol Jaggernauth; (P) 476-6622 (email) caroljaggernauth@gmail.com , Warren Chanansingh (P) 730-4906, (email) warren.chanansingh@hotmail.com;  Gabrielle Hosein (P) 689-9471, (email) gabrielle.hosein@sta.uwi.edu

UWI STUDENTS GATHER OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT

TO SHOW SUPPORT OF THE NATIONAL GENDER POLICY

Port of Spain, Trinidad

On Friday, 15 June 2012 at 1:30 p.m., students from the University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine campus will gather outside Parliament to show their support for the finalization of a National Gender Policy and approval by Cabinet in the coming month.

Through a series of popular theatre methods, students will demonstrate why and how approving the National Gender Policy will support issues that concern all citizens of Trinidad and Tobago including farmers, workers of all kind, men, women, youth, and persons with disabilities. The action will be enacted by a small group that represent a larger body of students at UWI, St. Augustine.

“We welcome the solidarity and support of all those who think it’s time that government budgets, programmes and agendas on gender issues ranging from agriculture to violence be guided by overall holistic policy built on human rights approach,” said Ms. Carol Jaggernauth, a student at UWI leading the action at Parliament. 

Members of the public planning to join the gathering are asked to wear a white T-shirt and to be present at Parliament by 12:30 p.m. on Friday, 15 June 2012. The action will end at 1:30 p.m. All media houses are welcome to provide coverage as well.

More information about the gathering and the National Gender Policy is available online at the Facebook Page:  "Support for the National Gender Policy “via https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/422017551164445/

 

The National Policy on Gender and Development provides a framework for including

gender perspectives in all activities of government and civil society, thereby promoting

the full and equal participation of men and women in the development process.

Cabinet’s approval of the National Gender Policy would promote equal employment opportunities for men and women in the public and private sectors, as well as monitor salaries, hiring, promotion, conditions of work, and be an important tool for Trinidad and Tobago’s economic and social development.

MYTHS ABOUT DOMESTIC ABUSE

MYTH: Violence is really only an isolated event. There isn't much of it happening.
REALITY: One out of every 15 relationships are currently experiencing the sort of violence that will send the victim to the hospital.

MYTH: Domestic violence only happens to poor people or minorities.
REALITY: Abuse can happen in any household, regardless of race, economic background or educational level.

MYTH: The victim "makes the partner hit them" by "getting in their face." They "ask for it."
REALITY: Every relationship has arguments and stress, but most people don't hit others when they get angry. An abuser has limited skills to deal with stress.

MYTH: The victim actually enjoys the attention, needs the violence or is a perpetual victim.
REALITY: Victims do not want to be hit. The abuser's violence is their own responsibility.

MYTH: The abuser is a sick or crazy monster, angry all the time.
REALITY: An abuser can be passive, a "nice person" generous to others and sensitive. Anyone could be an abuser.

MYTH: Alcohol or a bad marriage is the cause of violence.
REALITY: Most abusers hit whether drunk or sober. Alcohol/substance abuse can reduce the ability to control behavior.

IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY!
YOU DIDN'T CAUSE THE VIOLENCE, BUT YOU CAN END IT.

NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE

Trinidad and Tobago

800-SAVE (7283)

United States

1-800-799-SAFE (7233)

Help is Available  - Toll Free 24/7

Central man charged for committing incest

 

 

Central man charged for committing incest

Monday, May 28 2012

A 27-YEAR-OLD man is expected to appear before a Couva magistrate today charged with having an incestuous relationship with a 17-year-old female relative, over a three-month period.

Police said the man is alleged to have also used a gun to threaten the teenager into keeping the relationship a secret.

The man was arrested at his Preysal home on Saturday night following investigations by Superintendent Johnny Abraham and Cpl Radikissoon.

Reports indicated that the man had been committing the acts from March to May and had threatened the victim with the gun.

Following a report, police officers went to the man’s house in Preysal and found and seized a nine-millimetre pistol loaded with one round of ammunition.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,160838.html

Husband attacks wife

 

Husband attacks wife

Thursday, May 17 2012

Police are looking for an Erin man who went to the home of his estranged wife on Monday evening and attempted to rape her. They have been separated for the past 15 years, police reported.

At about 6 pm on Monday, the suspect went to his wife’s home, followed her to the back of the house and pushed her to the ground, demanding that she have sex with him.

Police said when the woman refused he removed her clothes and tried to rape her. She managed to escape and reported the matter to the Erin Police Station.

Investigations are continuing.

Source: http://www.newsday.co.tt/crime_and_court/0,160235.html

New bill to strengthen protection of women

Published: Monday, May 14, 2012

RASHANDA Mc KENNA

 

RAMONA RAMDIAL

A new Women Rights Bill will strengthen existing laws for the protection of women against sexual abuse and domestic violence. This was revealed by Minister of State in the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development, Romona Ramdial yesterday in an interview with the T&T  Guardian.

Ramdial said the purpose of upgrading the current laws was to strengthen existing legislation and eradicate current flaws within the justice system with regard to the protection of women’s rights. The Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development is the first of its kind in the T&T history and plans are to introduce the new bill in Parliament within the next year.

“For a long time legislation was stagnated due to the fact that the last gender unit was relatively insubstantial,”  said Ramdial. She revealed the women’s unit of the Caricom Secretariat has drafted a code for the protection of women based on internationally recognised standards set by the United Nations.

Ramdial hoped this model, first presented by the Dominican Republic, would serve as a pattern for T&T. She highlighted the fact that there are different pieces of legislation under different acts which provide limited redress for women in T&T.
There is no comprehensive laws which covers the scope of women’s rights to deal with all the issues that affect the group, such as sexual, emotional, physical and mental abuse; and other issues referenced on the Domestic Violence Act of 1999 which was amended in 2006.

She suggested that current legal provisions were antiquated and do not address contemporary issues of abuse. Ramdial said specific safety nets such as protection orders are intended to act as barriers against domestic abuse but are not fences made of steel, as certain victims were killed after receiving protection orders in the lower courts.

Ramdial said there was more to be done in terms of conflicting legislation which are hindrances to the intended purpose of the Domestic Violence Act. One such hurdle is Section Two of the Firearms Act of 1979 which prohibits the use of pepper spray she said. Ramdial said in the United States, such actions are legal and regarded as important for women who are allowed to use it to protect themselves.

“These are some of the changes we need in Trinidad,” said Ramdial. She stated the new ministry is seeking to act swiftly to include all of the mechanisms of protection, but the fundamental challenge was gathering the vast body of information to inform the amendments to be made.

Ramdial said the ministry plans to hold inter-ministerial talks with influential persons including Hazel Brown and Margaret Sampson-Brown. She said getting stakeholder consultations with NGOs are underway and have proven to be a major challenge alongside the limited capabilities of related ministries, such as National Security and the Ministry of the People.

Ramdial pointed to recurring inconsistencies within the system which she said are in conflict with and obstruct the roles of ministries. “Protection should be more than just imprisonment for the perpetrators, protection orders and fines,” said Ramdial.

She noted that 13 centres of healing for battered women and children will soon be established country-wide and will be used as rehabilitation homes and institutes of healing. The ministry is currently in talks with the family court in an effort to identify land for this purpose so that construction can begin by the end of 2013.

 Ramdial noted that funding will be disbursed by the Finance Ministry’s  Public Sector Improvement Programme although feasibility studies are not yet  completed.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-05-14/new-bill-strengthen-protection-women

 

Mother's Day Tragedy

 

SON KILLS MOM, SELF

Family feud turns deadly on Mother's Day

By Carolyn Kissoon

Story Created: May 13, 2012 at 11:52 PM ECT 
 
A mother who wanted nothing more than to be reunited with her estranged son on Mother's Day was brutally beaten on the head by the man, who afterwards took his own life yesterday.

Batia Ramsumair, 70, collapsed and died on the doorsteps of her son's house at Sukhan Trace, Barrackpore.

Batia Ramsumair

Her son, Basdeo Ragoobar, who wanted nothing to do with his mother and siblings, drank a poisonous substance and died in a track at the back of his house.
Relatives said the mother and son severed ties almost 18 years ago when he beat and chased her from the family's home.

Ramsumair moved in with an older son, Sookdeo, at Jones Trace, Barrackpore.

Police said there was an ongoing dispute between the mother and son.

Several reports of domestic violence were made against 47-year-old Ragoobar.

He was recently imprisoned for breaching a protection order, police said.

Dass Ragoobar, another son, said: "But she kept trying to talk to him. That was her son and she wanted him to come back into her life. She loved him so much. And every time she tried to talk to him he would want to beat her. Yesterday I was talking to her and she tell me she going to talk to (Basdeo) this morning because it is Mother's Day and he will have to talk to her. I beg her to stay away from him because he was a violent person. He always wanted to beat people. But she said no, it is Mother's Day and she going by her son."

Ramsumair took a taxi to her son's house around 9 a.m. Neighbours said they heard loud voices and then Ramsumair was seen lying in the front yard.

Her face was covered in blood.

Police said the elderly woman was struck on the head with a blunt object.

A murti of the Hindu god Hanuman was on the ground, near Ramsumair's body.

But officers were unable to confirm if the murti was used as the murder weapon.

Ragoobar ran through a track at the back of his unfinished house after the attack.

Police responded to the report and found Ragoobar lying face down in the bushes, dressed in a pair of short pants. A bottle containing a brown liquid was near his body.

A relative and six-year-old child were at Ragoobar's home when the incident happened.

Police were last evening searching for the woman and child who left after Ramsumair was killed.
Ramsumair was a mother of five.

"My father was sick, so he couldn't do much. My mother single-handedly raised five children. She sacrificed and make sure her children always had something to eat. She used her own hands and build the house that Basdeo was living in and he put her out. She loved all of her children and because of that love she was killed," Dass Ragoobar said.

Ramsumair's four children and grandchildren had planned a surprise luncheon to celebrate Mother's Day yesterday.

Her son-in-law, Ravi Ramdass, said they had planned to cook and spend the day with the elderly woman.
"Yesterday we took her out to a restaurant and for a drive. And today we were in the grocery buying things to make lunch for her when we got the call," he said.

His wife, Annie, was inconsolable.

"My mother wanted to spend Mother's Day with him (Basdeo). Look she get to spend Mother's Day with him, but not with us," she cried.

Relatives described Ramsumair as a loving mother, who always wanted to see her children happy.
Her 15-year-old grandson, Krishna Rajkumar, said, "Nani just wanted to speak with her son on Mother's Day. She loved him so much. I can never accept something like this."

The bodies of mother and son lay side by side as they were taken to the Forensic Science Centre in St James.

Southern Homicide Division officers are continuing investigations.

Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/SON__KILLS__MOM___SELF_______________-151326945.html



SON KILLS MOM OVER LAND

By STACY MOORE Monday, May 14 2012

LIKE all mothers, Barrackpore pensioner Batia Ramsumair, 70, never stopped loving her son though she endured years of abuse from him during which he eventually drove her out of her own house.

Yesterday on the occasion of Mother’s Day, Batia believed her son would have softened his heart and reached out to her, but the mother of five suffered a deadly blow of fate. The son, Basdeo Ragoobar, 47, struck his elderly mother on the head, killing her instantly in his yard at Sukhan Trace, Rochard Douglas Road, Barrackpore. After the woman fell, bleeding from a wound on the head, Basdeo drank a poisonous substance and died in some bushes at the back of the house.

The murder of the elderly Batia which occurred at about 9 am, plunged the Barrackpore community into mourning where families were celebrating Mother’s Day. Batia lived in her own house with her son Basdeo, his wife, and their child sharing accommodation.

Neighbours said yesterday that the mother and son quarreled a lot, and often times, he used to beat Batia. According to neighbours, Basdeo chased his elderly mother from the house and she was forced to live with another son at Jones Street in Barrackpore, a mile away.

Relatives said Batia would often make attempts to reconcile with her son, but the abuse continued. Police investigators said yesterday that Batia recently took out a restraining order against Basdeo but he continued to abuse the woman and was sent to jail for breaching the Protection Order.

According to a police report, Batia woke up yesterday on Mother’s Day and her son whom she was living with, Sookdeo Ramsumair, wished her “Happy Mother’s Day”. Another son, Dass Ragoobar, 49, told Newsday the family had planned to assemble at Sookdeo’s home with whom their mother lived, to celebrate Mother’s Day. Dass said, “We had planned to go by her (a gift) and cook and eat. We just wanted her to relax. We were going to do everything for her.”

About an hour before the children arrived at the house, Batia took a taxi and dropped off at Sukhan Trace. She wanted to make a last bid to mend her broken heart with Basdeo, her second son. Neighbours said they saw when the woman, dressed in a pink T-shirt, a black skirt and holding a hand bag, alighted from the taxi. But neighbours told police officers that as the woman was walking into the yard towards the house where she once lived, Basdeo emerged and began cursing her.

Neighbours told Newsday that they heard the shouting, but when they looked out and saw Basdeo cursing his mother, one of them telephoned the Barrackpore Police Station and reported the matter.

Police officers arrived at the home and saw Batia lying on the ground, her head smeared with blood. Next to the body were the purse and two murtis (statue of a Hindu god) that had fallen on the ground during the commotion.

Police investigators believe that Basdeo struck his mother with a blunt object several times, because she bled profusely from wounds to the head.

Police officers went into a bushy area behind the house and discovered Basdeo’s body. Next to him was a bottle with a brown liquid which was believed to be lanate.

A police report stated that Basdeo’s wife and child were not at home when police officers arrived on the scene. The area was cordoned off by Crime Scene Investigators and caution tape was placed around the house. ASP Zamsheed Mohammed, Cpls Ramdeen, Ifill and Hosein conducted investigations.

Villagers lined Sukhan Trace, among them several mothers who wept for Batia while expressing disbelief over the fate that had befallen the woman on a day dedicated to all mothers of the world. One woman who clutched her stomach, her eyes fixated on the body of Batia on the ground, sobbed, “No mother deserves this. Imagine, on Mother’s Day a mother get killed by she own son.”

Batia’s children had rushed to the scene, the eldest, Dass cried, “Why! why! why!, this boy had to kill my mother... why, and on Mother’s Day. No! No!”

Dass said at the time of the killing, he was busy attending to crops in his garden, because he wanted to return home in time for the “get-together for mummy”. Dass added, “I was trying to organise because I know everyone was coming togther to surprise mummy and have a special lunch for her. Then, to come home to hear my brother hit the old lady and kill her. They told me he hit her on her head.” Dass said despite Basdeo’s threats to kill his mother, Batia never stopped demonstrating her love for her son.

“But she always loved him no matter what he did to her. She said that he was and will always be her son. She did not listen to us when we told her not to go by his house. She insisted she had to go see her son (Basdeo) today as it was Mother’s Day,” Ragoobar said. Ragoobar said before Batia left to go visit Basdeo, she said, “Today is Mother’s Day and Basdeo will have to listen to me.”

Police investigators told Newsday the dispute between the mother and son was over land.

Minister of Community Development Nizam Baskh who lives in Barrackpore, visited the scene of the crime and comforted the relatives.

He said people are lacking patience and they are opting to settle issues with violence. Autopsies are to be performed today on the bodies.

Source:  http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,160066.html

Man murders mom, takes his own life

Minister of Community Development Nizam Baksh (right) offers condolences 

to Ian Rajkumar and his wife Sumintra at Sukhu Trace, Barrackpore, yesterday 

where her mother Batia Ramsumair, 70, was found murdered. 

PHOTOS: RISHI RAGOONATH

 

Published:  Monday, May 14, 2012

Reshma Ragoonath

 

All Batia Ramsumair wanted for Mother’s Day was to make peace with her estranged son. Little did she know it would have been her last wish. Yesterday, Ramsumair, 70, was bludgeoned to death by her son, Basdeo “Ratty” Ragoobar, 47, at his Sukhu Trace, Barrackpore, home after an argument over land.

Ragoobar, overcome with guilt after his actions, took his own life minutes after murdering his mother. Barrackpore police made the gruesome discovery yesterday after they were called out to investigate a domestic dispute around 9 am. Neighbours told police they heard noises coming from Ragoobar’s home and then saw Ramsumair lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

Only then did they contact the police. Officers found Ramsumair’s body in the front yard of Ragoobar’s home, which mother and son once shared. They also found the semi-nude corpse of Ragoobar lying face down in some bushes about 500  feet from his mother’s body. He reportedly consumed a poisionous liquid, as a bottle containing a brownish substance was found nearby.

Police are now searching for  Ragoobar’s female relative whom they believe could assist in piecing together the circumstances surrounding the murder/suicide. Two Hindu murtis  lay overturned near Ramsumair’s body. Police were up to late yesterday searching for the weapon used to bludgeon the grandmother.

Yesterday, grieving relatives said they had planned a special surprise to celebrate Mother’s Day with Ramsumair at her Jones Village, Khanhai Road, home. However, the woman was insistent on visiting Ragoobar and spending time with him. They had not spoken in over a year but she wanted to see him and make peace.

Yesterday, as the undertakers placed Ragoobar’s body next to his mother’s in a van, his sister Annie, 36, cried out: “Why she had to come and spend Mother’s Day with he? She wanted to spend Mother’s day with him. Now she get to spend Mother’s Day with him,” as she was comforted by her husband Ravi Ramdass.

Relatives said for 18 years Ramsumair and Ragoobar had a violent relationship which escalated last year when she left her home to live with one of her son in Jones Village. A protection order was later taken out against Ragoobar. He was recently released from prison after serving time for breaching the order.

Ramsumair’s eldest son, Dass Ragoobar, 49, said he warned his mother about  going to his brother’s house. “She said it is Mother’s Day and she have to talk to him. She said he have to think about his mother. She insisted. She did not want to listen. If she did only listen. I saw this on TV so many times and now look how it happen to we,” he sobbed.

Dass held his head in disbelief as he said: “He kill she, he kill she...she son. All she wanted was to talk to him. It’s Mother’s Day out of all the days. Mother’s Day he kill she. He was always violent. He always threatening to kill somebody. I was not here. If I was home I would not have let her go there.”

He said his mother single-handedly raised her five children after his father died. “She worked hard. She take dirt in her hands and build that house (family home.) She worked hard to bring we up.” One of Ramsumair’s grandchildren said she loved her son too much.

“It is so tragic. It is a mother loving a son and she come to see him today on Mother’s Day and he kill her. She just love him too much. You cannot accept that. He was her son. He mean everything to her as all her children do,” he said. Community Devlopment Minister Nizam Baksh, who lives a short distance from Ragoobar’s home, visited the scene and extended his condolences. He lamented the manner in which Ramsumair died.

“It is discouraging to see what is happened here today. It is Mother’s Day, a day when we should all be showing love to our mothers, a very special day and to see an incident like this happening today in a deep rural community, it means that today people are losing their patience,” he said. Asst Supt Zamsheed Mohammed, homicide investigators Sgt Peter Ramdeen, Cpl Ifill, Cpl Hosein, together with Crime Scene Investigators visited the scene and recorded statements.

 

 Source: http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-05-14/man-murders-mom-takes-his-own-life

Laws Coming to Protect Women

MP on sexual abuse, domestic violence: Laws coming to protect women

Published: Thursday, May 10, 2012

Indarjit Seuraj

Formal legislation to guarantee the rights and protection of women against sexual abuse and domestic violence is coming. Minister of State in the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development, Ramona Ramdial, made the announcement yesterday as she addressed the launch of the fifth Young Woman of the Year Award 2012.

Ramdial said the Government was in the process of drafting legislation to protect the rights of women. “Our battered women, those affected by domestic violence will have a piece of law that will protect the rights of these women which would be similar to the Children Bill, which is protecting the rights of the individual,” she said.

Ramdial said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had been championing rights and protection of women against domestic violence. Ramdial said the ministry would work together with the Office of the Attorney General to draft the Women Rights Bill.

The Couva North MP said: “Trinidad and Tobago is one of the better places for women to grow up, develop and live in.” However, she lamented the increasing rate of abuse of children, and young girls dropping out of school because of pregnancy. She said the ministry would construct 13 homes for battered women and children to offer refuge to victims of domestic abuse. “There is a need for it...Some of our homes are filled to capacity,” she said.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-05-10/mp-sexual-abuse-domestic-violence-laws-coming-protect-women

Tony Porter: A call to men