By Romario Samaroo
A Sunday morning trip to the La Penitence Market in Georgetown, for Wanita Herralall made a turn for the worse when she was confronted by her estranged husband who dealt her several chops about her body.
Herralall, 31, of Lot 8 Laing Avenue, Georgetown, left for her usual market visit but ran into the man, identified only as ‘Buckman’ of Anna Regina, Squatting Area in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Essequibo Coast.
The incident took place at approximately 10:30hrs and lasted for about three minutes, leaving market vendors and shoppers baffled as to what had transpired.
Eyewitnesses say the seemingly enraged man whipped out a blade from his side and was about to behead the woman when she pleaded not to. The accused then swung one chop to the head, bashing the woman over her right eye. The man then shouted to her, “don’t scream” and forcefully pinned the woman’s hand down before hacking at it several times between the elbow and wrist.
With the woman’s mangled hand barely hanging on, the angered Essequibian allegedly told her to “take your hand and move from here.”
In a bid to escape, the man tried running through the crowd, only to be captured and dealt a thorough beating, before being turned over to the Ruimveldt Police Station.
The woman, in an unconscious state, was placed in a minibus and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she remains a patient.
According to Herralall’s reputed husband, Dharmindra Phagoo, the couple would usually go to the market together but this time she went by herself. He was at home having breakfast when he got a call from a vendor telling him to “go to the hospital quick! Wanita get chop up.”
“When I reached to the hospital, I see my wife covered in blood with several chops including a large one over her eye and multiple gashes on her arms,” Phagoo added.
The woman reportedly shared a 12-year relationship with the accused. This union bore five children, the eldest being thirteen and the youngest five. The couple separated in 2015 when the woman moved to Georgetown due to years of alleged domestic abuse.
Since then, Herralall has been reportedly stalked by ‘Buckman.’
WELL-KNOWN
Phagoo and Herralall have been living together for the past six months and are well known to the market vendors and people in the community, since they operate a snackette in Industrial Site, Ruimveldt, and go to the market on a daily basis.
This publication understands that the perpetrator had travelled to the capital city nearly one week ago with the intention of killing the woman, as he was reportedly aiming for her neck.
Herralall is currently at the Georgetown Public Hospital receiving treatment. One of the chops went through the bone of her arm and it was up to press time unclear whether the arm can be saved.
The man is in custody assisting Police with investigations and is expected to be placed before the courts soon.
(Guyana Times)
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