Sattie Looknauth, the Wakenaam woman who was set on fire by her common law husband last month, was reportedly abused by the man over the past nine years and despite numerous attempts to end the relationship, she was never successful.
Looknauth, 43, a mother of four and a farmer of Friendship, Wakenaam, Essequibo River, has been hospitalised since the incident which occurred on the afternoon of January 18th. Her reputed husband Rabindranauth Harinarine known as ‘Fineman’, 66, took his own life minutes after he lit Looknauth on fire following a domestic dispute.
Police Commander of Region Three, Assistant Commissioner Simon McBean told this publication that Looknauth remains in a critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital’s (GPH) Burns Care Unit.
Stabroek News understands that more than 60 per cent of the woman’s body suffered burns as results of the attack with 33 per cent of her upper body suffering third degree burns. Both of her hands are also burnt.
Looknauth spent several days in the Intensive Care Unit at the GPH before being transferred to the Burn Care Unit. At present, her brother Kenny Looknauth explained, she is hooked up to a life support machine and doctors have been closely monitoring her condition.
Kenny, during a recent interview with Stabroek News, said that his sister was in a “very abusive relationship.”
“We tried to get her out several times but it never worked. She always ended up back with him. About two years ago, he had been beaten her and we decided to construct a house for her. After I left Guyana, we heard she moved back in with him. They have always been having fights and quarrels,” the brother said.
He said too that on several occasions, Harinarine bullied his sister for earnings she gained from her trade as a cash crop farmer.
“He has other children so he would from time to time bully her for her money so that he could have paid his child support and stayed out of jail,” Kenny said.
He added that on the afternoon of the attack, his sister was sitting in the verandah with her daughter while Harinarine was downstairs. He stated that from what the daughter related to the family, Harinarine came upstairs with a container containing a liquid substance suspected to be gasoline and threw it on Looknauth and immediately set her on fire.
Harinarine fled right after and the daughter called out to neighbours for help. After they managed to put out the fire, the neighbours assisted in taking Looknauth to the hospital. She was first taken to the Suddie Hospital and then transferred to the West Demerara Regional Hospital and later to the GPH.
The police were also summoned to scene and upon their arrival, launched a search for Harinarine. At around 5:20, the man was found dead in a clump of bushes where he had hanged himself.
Kenny said that the family remains hopeful his sister will recover and she would be able to use her story to bring awareness to horrific acts of domestic violence.
