–Dr. Jagdeo condemns domestic violence, joins with President Ali in calling for change in behaviour as gov’t works to strengthen legislation
AS the nation mourns a mother whose life was brutally cut short by domestic violence and prays for the speedy recovery of her wounded 10-year- old son who is currently hospitalised, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary and Guyana’s Vice-President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has condemned those acts of violence and firmly stated that it has no place in society.

During a press conference on Thursday at Freedom House, Georgetown, Dr. Jagdeo said that the strengthening of laws is not enough to eradicate domestic violence. He emphasised that the fight goes beyond legislation.

As he called for a change of culture, noting that violence must not be acceptable, Dr. Jagdeo said: “We’ve made it clear in the next term, we have to not just work in this school through the civic programme [but also] to work at a very young age with people to promote values that are really important to the growth of our society, a more humane society.

“But immediately we have to start doing what the President promised, that is, working with our religious leaders and the NGOs to try to get ahead of this. It happens too often and it’s happening in such a brutal way that it stuns the country.”

He stated that these acts of “grotesque” and “barbaric” violence “has no place in a modern society or a humane society.”

On Tuesday, President Dr. Irfaan Ali pledged to the little boy that Guyana will stand with him and called on all Guyanese to recommit to building stronger and safer families.

The President said: “I had the opportunity to speak to a 10-year-old child, a 10-year-old child who is fighting for his life, fighting for his life because of what occurred earlier today. I want all of us to hold that child up in our prayers, and I had the opportunity to tell him that we love him.
“I had the opportunity to tell him that we are standing with him as a country, and that he can count on us as a people to stand with him for the rest of his life.”

Dr. Ali used the opportunity to call on the nation to confront the challenges of broken families, violence, societal and community failures, which require all citizens to make a stronger commitment to doing better.

He said: “When we stay silent in the pain of others and do nothing in the pain of others, we never could tell where that pain would lead.”

The President said that the nation owes it to this recent victim to work harder, to not only secure a prosperous and a dynamic country, but to secure a country in which families must find the joy of living together and children enjoy the comfort of the love and protection of their parents.

He stated that the nation could be the richest but without tackling these issues, we will never achieve full prosperity.

“We must recommit ourselves to bring in these values to the core of our development, to advancing these values, to protecting these values. And this requires every single one of us. It requires all of us to understand what is needed and act in the right direction,” he said.

TRAGEDY
After fleeing her family home two months ago because of domestic violence, 36-year-old Teekadai Atiya Solomon was on Tuesday gunned down in Georgetown by her estranged husband, who shot her ten times before turning the weapon on their 10-year-old son and then fatally shooting himself.

According to a police release, the incident occurred around 11:50hrs at Lot 199 Charlotte and Bourda Streets, where Solomon, an ExxonMobil employee, had been living with her son since leaving the marital home at North East La Penitence.

Police reported that on the day of the tragedy, her husband, Alroy Solomon, drove up in a black motor car (registration number GUY 94), rushed into the compound and opened fire.

“The 36-year-old man then reportedly exited the vehicle and ran into the compound, after which the woman was heard screaming, followed by several suspected gunshots. The victim ran out of the yard and was followed by the suspect, who discharged several rounds at her, causing her to fall on the ground in front of her apartment, south on Charlotte Street, where she remained motionless,” the police statement said.

The woman sustained multiple injuries: two gunshots to the abdomen, two to the chest, two to the forehead, and others to her limbs and hip.

Moments later, the suspect re-entered the yard, shot his 10-year-old son in the left side of the chest, and then turned the weapon on himself, firing a single shot to the temple.

Public-spirited citizens rushed the wounded child to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, where he remains in a stable condition.

Crime scene investigators recovered a 9mm pistol with a magazine containing six live rounds, along with a matching spent shell next to the suspect.

Neighbours told reporters that the woman had recently moved into the area after a series of personal hardships, including the loss of the marital home to a fire and a hit-and-run accident that left her with a broken arm.
They also disclosed that there were at least two previous discharging of a firearm incidents at the Charlotte Street residence. It is suspected that the estranged husband was involved.