A TAXI driver was, up to press time, clinging to life at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH), after he ingested rat poison and turned himself into a human torch yesterday morning. Rudolph Seebarat, 54, of Lot 108 Barclay Street, Goed Fortuin, West Bank Demerara, was in a critical condition following a domestic quarrel with his wife, Tumattie Katwaru.
The man set himself alight in the toilet at the back of the yard where he lives after ingesting the poisonous substance about 10:00 hrs after a heated row during which he dealt the woman several cuffs to the face.
The woman, with blood streaming down her face, said she went upstairs in their home when the argument with her husband ended and she next heard her neighbour shouting.
She ran downstairs to enquire what was happening and saw her husband on fire. She helped wrap him in a blanket and he was rushed to the GPH, where she was informed that rat poison was pumped out of his stomach but he suffered severe burns over his entire body.
She said they had quarrelled over his damaged motor car and he became enraged and struck her several times. But, after a few minutes, realising what he had done, asked her to forgive him and went to the back of the yard.
Neighbour Ganesh Chunilall, who went to Seebarat’s rescue, said he could not throw water on the burning man since he fell to the ground and his skin was peeling as a result of the intense heat.
However, he was assisted to put a blanket over Seebarat and summoned a vehicle to transport him to the hospital.
Katwaru said her husband had been upset and distressed since his car, which he operated for hire to earn a living, was damaged and became inoperable. But, to her dislike, he started driving someone else’s car and had to meet a target of $3,000 daily.
She explained that he was not earning enough to support the home and she urged him to try and fix his car and asked him to stay at home with her to do some chores but he insisted he wanted to go to work.
She said she took away his cell phone and he started to cuff her to the face before bowing to her and telling her he was sorry for what he did, since she is faithful to him and did not deserve that.
Katwaru said she had told him that she was going to make a police report and he would be locked up and she went upstairs to inform relatives of the incident, just before his attempted self immolation.