A South Sophia mother of three and her mother were afraid to return home last evening after her child’s father beat her mercilessly and fled after the police arrived.
Up to late last evening the man had not yet been apprehended by the police.
“He did really mean fuh kill she this time,” related Irene Barry, mother of the woman who was beaten. Barry,
who was in the house when most of the beating occurred, was forced to relate the horrific ordeal since 26 year old Stacia Barry, her daughter, was too shaken to speak.
Barry said that the beating started around 15:30 hrs. after a man turned up at their home asking for her daughter. The man, she said, turned up to make inquiries into the land which she has intentions of selling. She said though, that Irene’s child’s father assumed that the man turned up to see Stacia, and proceeded to thrash her.
The abuser reportedly hit the woman several times about her body with various objects he picked up around the house. Barry said that the man also slammed her daughter into a window, causing a considerable amount of damage to her face.
Barry said that the abuser seemed to concentrate his blows to her daughter’s eyes, forehead and her ribcage. She said that when she took her daughter to the hospital around 16:30 hrs. yesterday she was crying out for pain whenever she drew in air.
The abuser also allegedly hit Irene with an iron. Barry said that the man hit her daughter so hard and so many times with the iron that it eventually broke. A seemingly frustrated Barry also said that the attacker removed several glass louver windows and smashed them across Irene’s body. One particular blow left a deep gash at the back of the distraught woman’s neck.
Barry said that she fled the house during the beating to summon to police. She said that she could not call the police from inside the house because the man had smashed her daughter’s cell phone-the only one in the house. When the police arrived however, they were unable to apprehend the man, who beat a hasty retreat upon learning of their arrival. Barry subsequently took her daughter to the hospital.
When Stabroek News visited Barry and her daughter last evening the woman had just received treatment in the Accident and Emergency Unit of the Georgetown Hospital and was waiting to have her wounds cleaned and dressed.
Barry said that she was contemplating where she, her daughter and her three year old grandson would sleep since she was afraid to return home. Irene’s three year son, seemingly oblivious to what was going on, was busy playing with a family friend and other persons whom he found interesting.
The boy though, was cognizant of his mother’s absence and was heard asking his grandmother and the family fried, “weh mommy deh,” several times.
Barry said that she knew the type of person the attacker was and was almost certain that the man would return to her house.
She described him as a violent man and added that he had beaten her daughter several times both in the recent and the distant past during their seven-year sporadic relationship. Barry said that on one occasion, Irene, who became pregnant with her fourth child, was beaten by the man throughout the pregnancy. The baby died 20 days after it was delivered.
In fact, yesterday’s beating was the latest in a series which began since last Thursday, Barry shared.
She said that the man had been remanded to prison for seven weeks for robbery under arms. It was decided though, that there was not enough evidence to convict him of the crime for which he was accused.
As such he was released last Thursday after which he returned to Barry and her daughter’s South Sophia residence. Barry said that the man acted normal for the first day, but said that he lashed out against her daughter on Friday, accusing her of wanting to leave him.
The man reportedly told Barry that while he was in prison, her daughter called him and told him she wanted out of their relationship and she had found someone else. Barry said that she was unaware of any such conversation and was of the opinion that the man was just finding an excuse to beat her daughter.
Barry added that the man’s reason for beating her daughter made no sense since she had visited him while in prison, and had attended all of his court appearances religiously.
Nevertheless, the man reportedly thrashed Irene every day since last Thursday. Barry said that he also forbade her to leave the house. The man reportedly told the woman that if she left the house it would be the last day she left.
She said that he also made threats to burn the house down, and made several seemingly serious attempts to follow through on these promises. The man allegedly set a mattress on fire last Thursday, and set a curtain ablaze some time during the weekend. Neither of the alleged attempts however was successful.
Barry said that she is sick and tired of the abuse suffered by her daughter at the hands of the man. She said that the beatings and verbal abuse are among the main reasons she wanted to sell the land and house.
The woman painfully related that she is ashamed to show her face in the community because of the horrific situation cause by the man. In addition to beating Irene, she said that the man would often stand at her door at spew all manner of hurtful and embarrassing things about her and her daughter.
The government has been urged for many years to have shelters available for women like the Barrys.
