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She has lost her right arm and three fingers from her left hand.
Bibi’s mother, sister and brother-in-law were on hand to take her away from the hospital, expressing concerns about her safety in going back to the home where the attack occurred, since they fear her reputed husband, who had committed the act and is still at large, might return to finish what he had started.
This publication reported yesterday that relatives claim Bibi’s attacker is still in the area, and has also revisited the home. That information was allegedly passed on to the police at Leonora.
Speaking with this newspaper at the Georgetown Public Hospital yesterday afternoon, Bibi’s sister explained that one reason why they are afraid to have Bibi return home while her reputed husband is still at large is because he had promised to kill Bibi and her children.
The sister also claimed that there is not really any male figure present at the home or in the yard which the woman shares with her mother. That fact is of concern to them, since should the man return, fending him off could be a losing battle for the women folk in the yard.
Yesterday, after the women expressed their concerns for Bibi’s safety, this publication contacted the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, which immediately put systems in place to take care of Bibi’s welfare.
Additionally, Bibi has immediately been seen by a social worker working directly out of the ministry’s headquarters following the call by this publication. She had been receiving counselling from the social worker at the Georgetown Public Hospital whilst she was a patient there.
The new social worker reportedly travelled to the GPHC before Bibi had left the compound, and was able to meet with her and her family members.
Bibi became aware that her children had been hacked by their father only the day before they were buried. The children were buried according to Muslim rites last Saturday.
Since that tragic Wednesday, Bibi’s relatives and Zeelugt residents have expressed frustration at the pace at which the work of the police at Leonora is progressing. This publication was told yesterday that efforts to get information out of the acting commander of that police division have been met with hostility.
Bibi’s relatives say that only a few ranks have been accommodating their calls and giving assurance that the man responsible for their loss will be caught and brought to justice.
What is being done?
The Zeelugt incident has again raised the question of what is being done to prevent the slaughter of women and children by mostly male figures in society.
One night after that incident, a man in Sophia chopped his wife and two daughters after an argument.
Over the years, the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security has been working with men, women and young people to address the issue of violence in our society, especially against women and children.
Under the leadership of incumbent Minister Jennifer Webster, the Human Services Ministry has held several outreaches and coordinated programmes to collect data on the likely common denominators with respect to violence in the society, and moreso against women and girls.
Among other things, the ministry held a national conversation on domestic violence, and incidentally, the community of Zeelugt was one of the areas that the ministry visited and had conversations with the residents in 2012.
The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security is currently in process of perusing several reports and documents pertaining to information on domestic violence and the added systems and approaches which need to be put in place and adopted to deal with this social ill, which, according to several interest groups and the Government of Guyana, continues to destroy the fabric of the Guyanese society.
