A ROUTE 42 minibus driver called “Baboo”, operator of a Grove/ Georgetown/Timehri bus, attacked his ex-wife Wanita Heeralall, 31, at the La Penitence Market in Georgetown, and brutally chopped her about her body after hurling several expletives at her following an argument at about 9:30hrs on Sunday morning.Bleeding profusely from the wounds she had sustained, Heeralall was rushed to the GPHC by a bus driver who was nearby, but “Baboo” was “arrested” by public-spirited citizens on scene and dealt a severe beating before being handed over to ranks of the Ruimveldt Police Station.

An eyewitness said Heeralall was standing at a vegetable stall making a purchase when “Baboo” approached her. After speaking to the woman, “Baboo” pulled out a cutlass and attacked her in full view of their son, who was standing nearby. He dealt the woman several chops to her left hand and her forehead.

“He (wanted) to kill she, because is plenty blood she lose,” the eyewitness said.

A video recording of the aftermath of the incident was provided to the Guyana Chronicle by a vendor at the market. In the video, passersby could be seen cutting strips of cloth and wrapping the wounded Heeralall.

The video also provided a glimpse of the man being apprehended by the police and members of the public.

At the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), Heeralall was being prepared for surgery while her son was seen sitting there in despair.

According to reports, the couple separated a few years ago after the woman had endured what was termed an abusive relationship.

“He use to beat she steady, and she decide to move out because it was too much,” a vendor at the market reported. The vendor also said that the assailant, several years older than his ex-wife, was in the habit of assaulting the woman after imbibing.

Sunday’s incident adds to the tally of similar incidents which have been recorded in recent weeks. The most recent involved 39-year-old minibus driver Uttanpad Sewnarine, who was remanded to prison on an attempted murder charge after he had stabbed the mother of his daughter, Selina Ramotar, several times about her body on June 9 at her parents’ home at David Street, Kitty.

Then, on July 10, fisherman Suresh Ganesh, 28, was remanded to prison for the murder of his reputed wife, Vanessa Sukhram-Persaud, 34, and their son Joel Ganesh. He appeared before Magistrate Clive Nurse and was not required to plead to two counts of murder, particulars of which allege that on Friday, July 1, at Best Village, he murdered his reputed wife and their son.