PARBATTIE Amanda Persaud, a 25-year-old market vendor of Parika Facade, East Bank Essequibo, was allegedly beaten to death by her husband with a piece of wood around 05:30hrs on Sunday morning at Parika.

The police disclosed that the woman’s reputed husband, Guradean Lallaram, a 39-year-old Mason of Parika Facade, was taken into custody and is assisting with the ongoing investigation.

“Enquiries disclosed that the now-deceased woman and the suspect shared a commo- law relationship for the past six years and they have a three-year-old daughter. During the relationship, the woman was alleged to have been constantly abused by the suspect, but never reported the matter to the police, since they opted to deal with the problems internally.

“About three weeks ago, the couple had a misunderstanding and, as a result, they had an exchange of words and she was assaulted by the suspect. The suspect then moved out of the home.

“At about [sic] 05:00hrs this morning, the now-deceased woman was walking down [the] Parika access road heading towards the market, when the suspect approached her on an electric scooter, after which a heated argument ensued between them. The suspect came off of the scooter, picked up a piece of wood from the roadside and dealt the victim one lash to her head, causing her to fall to the ground. He then stood over her and dealt her several lashes to her face with the wood, causing her to bleed profusely,” police said in a press statement.

It added that the entire ordeal was recorded by a resident in the area.

The suspect dropped the wood and made good his escape on the scooter; he stopped a short distance away and hid in a clump of bushes.

“The police were immediately summoned by residents in the area, and two police patrols responded to the scene where, on arrival, the area where the suspect was hiding was identified. He was arrested by the ranks and escorted to [the] Parika Police Station, along with the suspected murder weapon,” the statement added.

Ranks picked up the victim, who was slipping in and out of consciousness at the time, with visible wounds to her face and conveyed her to the Leonora Cottage Hospital.

She was rushed to the Emergency Room where she succumbed to her injuries. Her body was escorted to the Ezekiel Funeral Home to await a post-mortem to determine the cause of death.

The suspect was told of the allegation and later gave a statement under caution and a video recording. He was then placed into custody pending further investigations.