A Corentyne woman and her husband are now hospitalised while their son was treated for burns and sent home following a domestic violence incident at their home on Wednesday.
Reports are that the husband threw a lit kerosene stove on his wife but then fell onto the floor, causing him to receive head injuries.
Hospitalised are Zeena Harripal called ‘Lovita’, 40, and her 47-year-old husband Edward Sukhu called ‘Paul’ while their 20-year-old son Joshua Sukhu was treated at the Skeldon Hospital for burns and sent away.
The incident occurred on Wednesday evening between 19:30h and 20:00h at the couple’s lot 63 Section A No 69 Village Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) home.
Harripal is a patient at the Skeldon hospital while Sukhu is a patient at the New Amsterdam Hospital.
According to the police, the 20-year-old construction worker reported that his mother and father had an argument over a cell phone.
He said, at the time, his father was under the influence of alcohol and his mother was cooking on a one-burner kerosene stove in the kitchen on the lower flat of their home.
According to the young man, the argument got heated and as his mother turned away, backing his father, who then picked up the stove and threw it on his mother’s back, causing the flammable liquid to spill onto her hair and clothing.
Within a split second, his mother was on fire.
In a bid to assist, Joshua rushed to his mother where his clothing also caught fire.
Meanwhile, in a bid to escape, the husband tried to rush out of the house but due to water on the tiled floor at the front of the door, he slipped and fell face downwards, injuring himself.
An alarm was raised and neighbours rushed over to assist.
According to a source close to the family, Sukhu was bleeding through his ears when they arrived at the house.
Sukhu was alsosaid to be in an unconscious state.
The incident was reportedly witnessed by a 15-year-old child of the couple.
Reports are that the couple would have frequent fights and the woman would have to seek medical attention on several occasions after being physically abused by her husband.
Police are investigating Wednesday’s incident.
