The man who stabbed his former reputed wife and her mother during a fight at their Linden home on Saturday night is still on the run while both women are patients of the Georgetown Public Hospital, after being rushed there from the Mackenzie Hospital.
Abiola Van Hersel, 21, and her mother Lynette Ransom, 63, both of Lot 1, Section C, Christianburg, Linden were both admitted to the medical institution with stab wounds. Van Hersel is in a stable condition in the ward while Ransom’s condition is said to be much more serious though she is speaking after being unable to do so earlier and is on saline. A relative said that she was unable to eat as she kept throwing up the food.
Recounting the incident, Ransom’s granddaughter, Nikita Ransom, told Stabroek News yesterday that earlier on Mashramani Day, she and her aunt, Abiola had gone to the pool at Bucktown for a swim. She said that her aunt had separated from the man following a misunderstanding, after living together for close to a year and had moved out of their home but he still came to see her. She said that while they were at the pool, the man attempted to call her aunt on her cellular phone but she did not hear it ringing and so did not answer. She said the man later came and saw them in the water and noting that while she did not see him, Abiola did, and he apparently became angry and left after exchanging some words.
The girl said that she and her aunt later returned home and the man came to the house, two times and requested to speak to Abiola but because of his intoxicated state, he was not allowed into the home. He returned for the third time at about 8 pm and spoke to Lynette, who extracted a promise from him not to curse, before letting him inside.
“He come with a pleasant face”, Nikita recounted, stating what followed was not expected. The girl stated that after he went to her aunt’s bedroom, the woman refused to speak to him and moved to another room and locked the door. She said that this action enraged the man who began to kick down the door and then broke in. Hearing the commotion, Lynette rushed to the spot but the man was already in the room and had pulled out a knife and stabbed Abiola five times. As Lynette struggled with him, she too was stabbed four times. Nikita too joined in defence of her aunt as she picked up a piece of the splintered door and began to hit the man. She said that in the process she sustained a gash in the leg and some bruises. Apart from them, three other children were in the home and the enraged man reportedly turned his attention to the 10-year-old boy and tried to attack him too but he bit him on the hand and he left.
After the man exited, the women were left in a pool of blood but while Abiola was standing her mother was lying on the ground. “I thought she died”, Nikita declared. As the man fled the children screamed for help.
Meanwhile, Lynette’s son, Sheldon was in another shop at the time and was alerted to the incident by another of his nieces, who came to call him. He said that as he was running to the home, he spotted the man and challenged him. “I run behind he and try foh scramble he but he pull a knife pon me”, he stated. The man said that he backed down and the man ran away.
The women were rushed to the Mackenzie Hospital from where they were transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital and the matter reported to the police. Stabroek News was told that up to last night the man, who is said to have had brushes with the law, had not yet been located and searches were ongoing for him. (Gaulbert Sutherland)
