Mother of five homeless after husband tears down house

A mother of five of No 10 Village, West Coast Berbice was left homeless and her belongings scattered in the rain after the father of her three smaller children dismantled the house they were living in.

Lex Thomas, 29, told Stabroek News that she was separated from the man about one year ago but continued living in the one-bedroom house. She said she had nowhere to go with her children whose ages range from two to 10-years-old.

On Friday the man broke down the house, leaving the woman’s belongings including beds and other furniture and clothing scattered in the yard even though she pleaded with him not to.

Lex Thomas

After it started to rain, the man, who is living in another village with another woman, assisted in taking the children to a relative’s house for the night.

When Stabroek News visited Thomas on Saturday her rain-soaked belongings as well as boards from the dismantled house were still scattered in the yard.

The man was also there erecting a makeshift camp with zinc sheets below the house frame for the woman and the children to stay. He told this newspaper that he did not deliberately leave them homeless.

He said he told Thomas many times to remove so he could repair the house but she refused. He said too that she had taken him to court to support his children although he was giving them whatever they wanted.

But Thomas denied his claims about the repairs and said it was only an excuse to get rid of them. She said he only started to erect the temporary dwelling for her and the children after one of his relatives chided him for leaving them without shelter.