Despite around 10 reports being filed with the police and a range of government and non-government options to battle domestic violence, Malini Wahid, 48, was not provided with the protection she needed and on December 10th she was murdered by her husband who later took his own life.
For many like Wahid’s family, the legal and law enforcement system failed her leaving her without remedy or maybe the help that was needed was not as easily accessible as it appears.
On December 10th, tragedy struck when Wahid, a mother of two was beaten and strangled to death in her Martyr’s Ville, New Scheme, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home by her husband, Balram Heeralall who then took his own life.
Before committing the heinous act, neighbours said Heeralall secured the house to prevent Wahid from leaving.
Although she heard her screams for help and witnessed her being attacked, Wahid’s close friend, Sattie Sugrim who lives opposite her home was unable to intervene or even render any assistance.
Family members and neighbours had told Stabroek News that Heeralall would abuse Wahid during regular arguments. The Guyana Police Force (GPF) also confirmed that Heeralall was before the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court for assaulting and threatening his wife. Their last court date, was on December 10th, hours before she was killed.
In a recent interview with Stabroek News, a relative of Wahid who wished not to be named, related that about ten reports were made by Wahid to the police.
Five of these reports, she said were made between September and December.
However, according to the woman, while the police responded to most, if not all of the calls, Heeralall would be set free the following day.
In one instance, she said the police even caught Heeralall armed with two cutlasses when they responded. “Them take he, chain he foot and the next day he come home back…..Them go loose he and put he on bail. Sometime she would come away to (her) mommy and so,” the woman said.
“Let me tell you, the police them didn’t do anything because when he (Heeralall) did come in Cane Grove heh and he cuss she, she call Cane Grove Police station. He was drunk. Police didn’t even look into that. From the time he reach at the station, a couple minutes and he gone away. Police don’t do nothing,” she added.
Initiatives
Not once, not twice but after about ten times this was the outcome. One would expect that at least some sort of action would have been taken to prevent the situation from escalating.
Not that there aren’t agencies or active initiatives to address it.
High on the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security’s (MOHSSS) agenda is the issue of Gender Based Violence. Several programmes were designed and implemented to tackle violence in general, particularly violence against women and children.
In view of the serious effects of domestic violence on society, the government has also established a 914 hotline, where persons including victims of domestic and sexual violence can call for assistance.
The 914 hotline was launched late last year under the Spotlight Initiative in direct response to the escalating number of domestic and sexual violence cases. The 24-hour toll-free hotline allows persons to call to report the crime and also seek assistance.
When a call is placed between 8 am and 4.30 pm, it is routed to a trained customer service operator, who, in turn, will connect the caller to a social worker.
Calls made after these hours and during the weekends will be forwarded to the cellphones of social workers and calls are expected be addressed with confidentiality. The social workers are expected to provide the necessary counselling and refer children and parents to local service providers and other relevant agencies.
The Spotlight Initiative is a global, multi-year partnership between the European Union and the United Nations to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls by 2030. It was launched here on November 1st, 2020.
Additionally, the MHSSS in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs launched the COPSQUAD 2000 initiative, which will see the training of 2,000 policemen and women who will be dealing with reports of domestic violence.
The training course will include aspects on interrogation, assessment of safety, counselling, response to people who visit a police station to make a complaint and how case reports should be written. It will also train officers in how to deal with the alleged perpetrators and it was noted that counselling done by the ministry has helped a number of persons who physically assaulted their partners.
Upon the successful completion of the training, ranks are outfitted with a badge which will help victims to easily identity the ranks they are reporting to.
Several efforts made to contact the Minister of Human Services, Dr Vindhya Persaud to find out whether any of these initiatives were accessible to Wahid proved futile.
It is unclear whether the ongoing COPSQUAD training is also providing a boost in the skillsets of police officers to deal with these reports as it should.
“Nowhere to go”
Family members and neighbours had previously indicated that quite often when the couple argued and fought, Wahid would leave the house but she always returned. No restraining order was ever issued to provide any form of protection to Wahid.
Two months prior to her death, Wahid’s mother Elsie Durga said Wahid was back and forth between home and her place. “When she go back, she would say mom I can’t bear it I coming back,” Durga said.
Every time Wahid tried to escape, Durga said Heeralall would threaten her or her relatives and in fear she would return home.
However, the relative told this newspaper that Wahid chose to return mainly because she had nowhere else to stay long term. She said Wahid was the only one who worked to ensure that the house mortgage was paid so that the property wouldn’t be seized.
“Everybody does say different thing but when you see you deh in one situation and you don’t get no way to go, you does got to come and go back. She (Wahid) seh if she nah go back fah get the mortgage pay, the house go get seize that’s the reason she keep going back,” the relative explained
Another factor, the relative added that contributed to her decision was finances.
“A lot of women don’t even know to travel. Sometimes they don’t even have money. Sometime you willing to get out. When you have little children, you does watch them face. If you go to parents house sometimes parents nah even afford fah mind yuh. The children them suffering. When you carry the man them for child support you barely getting lil bit money. So eventually you does be force to go back home,” the woman further explained.
In a telephone interview with Stabroek News, Director and Coordinator of Help and Shelter, Colin Marks said that shelter services have saved many lives. “Because all it needs is for that woman to be away and survive and rebuild and go through a process of transmission to rehabilitation for about six months,” he said.
According to Marks, records have proven that “lots of times” women who go “back and forth” from the perpetrators end up being killed. “It’s a free will step. Had he been gone and she was in a safe place this would not have happened,” he said.
Although some might reach out for help, Marks said that victims sometimes takes months or even a year before they actually show up. “…We tell them ‘please come’ because we don’t go like pick up people and bring them in and things like that. They say yes they coming…..Sometimes that person would come one year after, six months after because it’s a decision that they have to make,” he noted.
Counselling
Following the incident, Stabroek News learnt that the couple had been advised to seek counselling due to the matter that was before the court but Heeralall was reportedly not willing to participate.
According to Marks, had Wahid taken the counselling by herself, it would have aided her to at least make future decisions as it relates to her life or even help her to regain the courage needed to leave the relationship.
“Counselling opens up the options for the clients. Not told what to do. It tells you what are the options. Sometimes during the counselling, options are provided where they say `you know something let me look at it, the question of my life is far (more) valuable than this and we can make it over to the other step where I am feeling safe and still valuable’….and make certain decisions,” Marks explained.
He said when victims of violence choose to stay in abusive relationships they end up doubting the violence and become helpless as their attacker becomes powerful. “Every survivor or victim has been rendered powerless by their perpetrators,” he said.
“….At the end of the day, the survivor/victim have to make a decision because really and truly they does want the violence to stop but it doesn’t stop….So they have to decide to take that step,” Marks added.
Wahid’s case, Marks said, could have been avoided if the necessary steps were taken at the second instance when a report was made against her attacker. “That should have been looked at the second time. So something keep slipping there,” he said.
Support and safety
Importantly, Marks said, two key elements in tackling the issue are support and safety.
He said he hopes that the Ministry’s COPSQUAD initiative will mould policemen and women to work in the good and best interest of victims and survivors of violence.
“Simple things like you walk into a police station, she is there and she is timid and somebody doesn’t even have the skills to recognize this is a woman in trauma and should walk across the room (and say) `can I help you ma’am?’ Intimidation, re-traumatize right there,” he said.
Apart from having a designated room to deal with domestic violence reports, Marks said police stations should also be equipped so that women who suffered from trauma can visit and offload their tension before the matter is taken to the next step.
Even if the victims were unable to seek help on their own for whatever reason, Marks added that the Guyana Police Force should be able to reach out to the relevant agencies on their behalf.
“….A national institution like the Guyana Police Force supposed to be service oriented. The police supposed to have a particular checklist of things … when dealing with domestic violence cases,” he said.
He further stated that there is a need for violence-related issues on the whole to be mainstreamed on a wider scope so that access to information and/or services is not a difficult task. “Programmes should be implemented that are preventative. It’s a complex issue and it’s a phenomenon really,” he said.
Wahid’s relative also believes that apart from punishing perpetrators of these acts by simply granting bail or “passing” them through the courts, there should be additional services available. “Not when a husband and wife go to court and they said they want done the matter that’s the end. Still let them go to counselling and so forth,” she said.
