AFTER reportedly suffering over 20 years of abuse at the hands of her husband, a 40-year-old domestic worker drew her last breath Saturday evening at the New Amsterdam Hospital after being admitted six days ago in an unconscious state.

Dead is Sabita Shamnarine of Line Path, Skeldon, East Berbice-Corentyne.

She was admitted to hospital after she had complained of severe pain after being allegedly kicked in the abdomen, cuffed to her face and neck and beaten about her body, including her head, at the hands of her husband sometime between Sunday evening and Monday morning.

If you or your loved ones know someone who is suffering from abuse, call the Help and Shelter hotline on 227-3454 or 225-4731

She was taken to the Skeldon Hospital where she was being treated, but after her condition took a turn for the worse and she started slipping in and out of consciousness, she was subsequently transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital on Friday, but eventually died Saturday night.

According to a friend who spoke on condition of anonymity, sometime after 10:00hrs on Monday last, Sabita visited her and had visible marks of violence about her face. She related that she had been beaten by her husband.

“She was crying, she sat on the chair and ask for some water as she took the first sip, she started to scream and she started to say what happened. She had black and blue all over her face and neck and said he cuffed her and kicked her. I told my daughter we are taking her to the doctor and she just fell asleep on the chair, so I say maybe she really tired. She didn’t sleep last night, so I let her rest when she got up she was in a lot of pain, so my daughter and I lift her and put her in the car and took her to the hospital,” the friend related.

She recalled while on the way to the hospital, Sabita was repeatedly saying “Me don’t want to go home, he go beat me.”

According to the friend, Sabita was seen sometime after 13:00hrs and when she was being moved by the porter, she began screaming, complaining of head and back pains. She said after seeing the doctor, she went home and came back at 16:00hrs for the afternoon visit, but was told by a nurse “she unconscious.”
After speaking with a doctor, the friend related that the doctor explained that the patient “was in a deep sleep.”

The friend recalled two weeks prior, Sabita had what appeared to be burn marks around her eyes. Sabita had claimed that she was burnt accidentally while cooking, but her five-year-old daughter said ‘Daddy light a cigarette and burn mommy eye’, the friend related.

“She has always been making excuses for him, saying ‘Is just a lil mis-understanding’ and other excuses and refused to report him to the police,” the friend said, relating that one time the man struck Sabita in the head with a hammer.

The medical staff at the hospital notified the police of Sabita’s condition and her husband was arrested on Wednesday after welfare officers visited the home and found him imbibing with a friend, while his five-year-old daughter was left unsupervised.

The couple had shared a 20-year relationship which bore three children, two of whom are now deceased.  Their eldest daughter eight years ago committed suicide. Days after she was interred, her body was dug up and sexually violated by unknown person (s).

In 2016, the couple also lost their eldest child Hemraj Sudama, 22, in a motor cycle accident, after he allegedly tried to avoid a pothole.

Sabita’s relatives are calling for justice and are appealing to other women who may be in similar situations to speak out and try to get out of abusive relationships before it is too late.