-relatives recall molestation incident some years ago
A 13-YEAR-OLD student of a leading secondary school on the Essequibo Coast has ended her life by suicide.
Dead is Selina Fredericks of Reliance Housing Scheme.
Reports are that the teen was discovered early yesterday morning, hanging from a piece of cloth attached to a beam in the sitting room of her home.
Her father, Morgan Fredericks, said his daughter left him a farewell note saying: “I love my sister and father; please forgive me for what I did.”
Morgan, a security guard, said his wife died some eight years ago, leaving him to take care of his two daughters.
According to the distraught father, Selina was in very high spirits up until Friday. She cooked for him, and even accompanied him to the gate as he left for work that evening. And as he rode off into night, she said: “Farewell dad!” Little did he know it was the last time he would ever hear his daughter’s voice.
Several relatives gathered at the home of the deceased after receiving the tragic news, recalled that Selina was in a very upbeat mood on Friday, and gave no inkling that she was planning to end her life in such a horrible manner.
An older cousin, Udessa Hunte, who lives in another house in the same yard, said when Selina’s father came home early yesterday morning, she heard him calling for Selina to open the door, but there was no answer.
Finding it strange that Selina was not up as yet, Udessa said she ran towards the house, and, peeping through a small hole in the wooden wall, saw Selina standing on a chair.
Udessa said she called out to the teen, telling her to open the door for her father, but she did not budge.
The woman said that after getting no response, she decided to take a closer look, only to discover that Selina was not standing on the chair as she’d earlier thought, but was rather hanging from a piece of cloth, tied to a supporting beam of the house.
On seeing this, Udessa said she began to scream, which brought other relatives and neighbours rushing over to her place to see what was the matter.
The police were called in and the body of the teenager removed to the mortuary. Relatives have surmised that the child’s being molested by a photographer in the Region some years ago may have some bearing on her ending her life in such a tragic manner.