Years of verbal and physical abuse ended on Tuesday night for a 40-year-old mother of two, when her husband committed suicide but not before brutally chopping her about the body.
Due to the savagery of the attack, Sheermattie Vivekanand may lose her hand which was hanging by the skin at the end of the 15-minute ordeal. Vivekanand is presently a patient in the Intensive Care Unit of the Georgetown Hospital and although conscious, she is in a serious condition and is taking blood. She sustained chops to both hands, head, neck and back.
Her husband Robert Kumar Jhagru consumed a poisonous substance before Vivekanand could be rescued. He died at the hospital around 4:30 yesterday morning.
Stabroek News understands that Jhagru flew into a rage just after 9 pm and started throwing accusations at his wife.
From all appearances, Vivekanand was sitting on the bed when her husband locked the bedroom door and started hacking at her with a chopper. The chopper was used by Vivekanand in her fish vending business.
The couple’s 16-year-old daughter could only listen to her mother’s screams and plead with her father to stop hurting her mother. Vivekanand’s sister later managed to kick open the door and several members of the community policing group also went to the woman’s aid.
When Stabroek News visited the couple’s Lot 21 Chateau Margot, South, East Coast home, several of Vivekanand’s relatives were cleaning the bloody bedroom.
A resident who wanted to be unnamed told this newspaper that Jhagru was unemployed and for the five years that she has been living in the area, Vivekanand was a fish vendor and would support him and their two children. The woman added that Jhagru drank a lot and she had cause to speak to him about his behaviour several times.
According to the woman, other residents also spoke to him about his behaviour but to no avail.
She recounted that at around 9:30 pm she heard Vivekanand screaming but thought it was another neighbour. Minutes later, Vivekanand’s sister ran out of her house which is located in front of the couple’s home and started shouting for help.
The resident told Stabroek News that it was only then that she realized that the woman was in trouble. She added that the sister managed to gain entry into the couple’s home but the locked bedroom door barred any rescue attempts.
“De woman deh hollering, help me, help me. He gon kill me”, the woman said still visibly shaken.
She said that by then the couple’s daughter was awake and was standing at the door pleading with her father to stop.
“They use to fight plenty. He envy her and was very insecure”, she said adding that he had threatened to kill the woman on several occasions.
The woman informed this newspaper that two months ago, Jhagru had hot oil to throw on her and the police had to get involved. Prior to that, she said, he was in prison for wounding her but with the help of his brother, he was freed.
She recounted that when she saw Vivekanand she was drenched in blood and was wrapped in a sheet.
The neighbour said that while the members of the community policing group were waiting for the police, Jhagru said that he would die before he reached the station and that he should be taken to the hospital instead.
He then began asking for a cigarette and water but shortly after he vomited a noxious substance, she said, adding that it was then they realized he had consumed poison.
A drink bottle with the suspected poison was later retrieved from the bedroom.
The woman expressed concern over the impact the incident will have on the couple’s daughter who will be writing the CSEC exams in May.
The couple’s teenaged daughter Melissa told this newspaper that every day her parents quarrelled. She said that the arguments were mostly started by her father.
“She threatened to report him to the police so that he could spend Christmas in jail”, she added.
This incident has sent shock waves throughout the entire East Coast community and many are still struggling to come to grips with the tragedy.
Vivekanand also leaves behind a son who lives in Trinidad.
