Triumph, East Coast Demerara was rocked yesterday by the suicide of a popular poultry farmer just after he had chopped his 42-year-old wife leaving her in a critical condition.
Subhash Chan Mohabir, 49, of 66-67 Agriculture Road died at the Georgetown Hospital around 5 pm, hours after he had consumed an unknown poison. The mother of his two children, Latchmin was still in the operating theatre up to press time last evening. Stabroek News understands that one of the woman’s hands was left hanging by the skin while the other has several deep chop wounds. She was also stabbed in the elbow.
Relatives and friends of the couple were puzzled as to what might have sparked the incident which occurred at 10:30 am. This newspaper has since learnt that Mohabir was in the habit of threatening his wife but she never made a report to the police.
When Stabroek News arrived at the couple’s locked home, several persons could be heard discussing the incident which took place in front of the couple’s children.
According to reports, shortly after returning home in a taxi, Mohabir’s wife indicated to him that there were no “greens” in the house to cook and that he should purchase some at the market.
Shortly after that Latchin told Mohabir that there was no more space in the store room for the eggs she was collecting from the pens and that the extra eggs should be “given to the market people”.
Reports say that someone went to the house to purchase eggs and after they had left, Mohabir inquired about what he should buy at the market. “After that he just pull out a knife and stab she in she elbow”, a source told this newspaper adding that Latchmin started to run.
The father then picked up a cutlass and started to chase after Latchmin.
At some point during the chase, the injured woman fell to the ground and Mohabir started chopping her. The source recalled Latchmin trying to bar the blows with her hand.
At this point Carmen Singh (Latchmin’s sister-in-law) interjected saying that her husband, Seeraj was away for some time and decided to go and check on his sister and her family. As he was approaching the bridge to the home, she said, he heard her screaming. “Me husband drop he bicycle and kick off he slipper and he rush in cause he see when he pull the cutlass from under the house and started running his sister”, the visibly distressed woman said, adding that Seeraj kept shouting in an attempt to distract Mohabir.
At this point, Singh added, neighbours started coming to the yard and persons called the police.
During the commotion no one noticed when Mohabir drank the poison or entered the bottom flat of his brother’s home which is located a few feet away.
The brother, Lagouti Prashad recalled hearing the screaming and was informed by his niece that Latchmin was being chopped by her husband.
Police he said later found Mohabir lying in an unconscious state on the floor. He said that it is unclear what poison he had consumed but greenish-colour vomit was evident near his body. The man recalled that his brother was brought out to the roadway where he vomited again before being taken to the hospital.
Latchmin who was also rushed to the hospital was conscious and was calling out for her mother.
Meanwhile, Keisha told this newspaper that her parents quarrelled a lot and her father was in the habit of threatening his wife. “She ain’t report it to the police though. She is a quiet person…” the child added as she looked at her seven-year-old sister, Litasha.
Singh trying to hold back tears said that the incident has shocked her. The woman added that she is so distraught she cannot even think straight.
The couple had been living at their present address for almost fifteen years. Persons in the area who knew them described them as a quiet couple.
