Following the murder of his mother allegedly at the hands of another sibling on Sunday night, 32-year-old Davendra Deonauth yesterday regretted that the family didn’t take more decisive action to protect his parents from abuse.
He says that he and his sister will be looking into the welfare of his father who is paralyzed from the waist down.
Speaking at his mother’s Lot 41 Croal Street, Enterprise, East Coast Demerara home yesterday, Deonauth told Stabroek News yesterday that the woman, the late 55-year-old Ramattie Deonauth, was the sole breadwinner of her household in which she and his father lived along with his older brother. He said his mother did domestic work around the village in order to sustain the household. His father became ill about four years ago and has since been confined to his bed.
When asked what might be the reason behind his brother’s actions on Sunday night, Deonauth recounted an incident which occurred about 14 years ago when, he recalled, his brother started to consume alcohol heavily. He said his sibling and a few other boys of his age were ‘drinking’ at a shop in the village when he got into an argument with another person. He said his brother was attacked by the individual and his friends and sustained severe injuries to several parts of his body, including his head.
He said his sibling was admitted to the hospital and after spending over a month there, he was discharged from the medical institution, complaining of severe pain to the left side of his head, close to where he was struck.
He said since then, whenever his brother consumed alcohol, he would “veer off” and would verbally abuse the other members of his family, including his parents. He said after he and his sister moved out of his parents’ house, his brother continued to abuse their parents even though he would be chided by the other members of his family as well as neighbours. He said he and his sister even made several reports to the Vigilance Police Station about his brother’s treatment towards his parents but his mother would often ask the officers there to release him.
Deonauth related that on Sunday, his brother, who he described as an alcoholic, went to a ‘wedding house’, located several houses away, and spent most of the day there consuming alcohol with his friends. He said he was told that around 3 pm, his younger sibling returned home in an intoxicated state, and enquired from his mother, whether she had prepared his lunch. He said the man then started to verbally and physically abuse his parents and it was only after several neighbours intervened that he walked out of the house.
He said he was informed that his brother was beaten by his neighbours that Sunday afternoon and this may have fuelled his intentions that evening. One of the woman’s neighbours told this newspaper yesterday that the woman’s son wanted to throw his mother off of the step of her home on Sunday afternoon and it was only after they intervened he did not carry through with his intentions. She said two persons in the neighbourhood spoke to the man about his behaviour and he responded by saying that he was going “to kill his mother for talking his name with neighbours”.
Where his father’s future is concerned, Deonauth stated that the ailing man will be moving to his sister’s house, since she usually takes care of him whenever his mother was away. With sadness in his eyes, Deonauth stated that he never believed his brother would have attacked his mother in that manner even if he was intoxicated at the time.
On Monday, her husband Siew Deonauth and a family friend Darshanie, who resided with the family, recalled the woman being cuffed, kicked and trampled upon by her son who demanded that she prepare his dinner. She was taken into her bedroom by the man where she reportedly received the brunt of the beating. During this time Darshanie hid under the bed as the woman was being beaten and about an hour later, the man left the house, leaving his motionless mother on the floor.
Davendra said when his sibling came over to his house at Enterprise Gardens around 5:30 am on Monday and told him that their mother was dead, his thoughts immediately went out to his father. He said a call was also made to his sister and the two went to their parents’ home where they discovered their mother lying on the bedroom floor, with blood oozing out of her nostrils. He said she also had several cuts and bruises on her face and other parts of her half naked body.
He said he regretted the fact that he and other relatives did not do something more decisive where the well-being of his mother and father was concerned.
He said being a father of three, it is only after his mother died, that he realized how important it is for children to obey and honour their parents and likewise, for parents to look into the interest of their children.
According to the police, Ramattie Deonauth’s motionless body was found at her home on Monday morning around 5 am and the suspect has been arrested. A post-mortem examination is expected to be performed on the woman today while the suspect is expected to appear in court shortly to answer to the capital offence of murder.
The woman will be cremated this weekend at the Good Hope Crematorium.
