TWENTY-seven-year-old Carl Hernandez of Lot 3 Jackson Street, Better Hope, East Coast Demerara committed suicide last Tuesday evening, leaving his reputed wife, 24-year-old Melissa Boodhoo, to fend for herself and two-year-old, single-handedly. Speaking to the media from a three-apartment home that she, her sister and mother share, Melissa told reporters that the last time she had seen her reputed husband Carl was on Tuesday morning, and the last time he had spoken to her was Tuesday night, when he told her, “Goodbye, Melissa.”
She explained that Carl habitually abused her, both physically and verbally, whenever he consumed alcohol; and on Tuesday morning he had ordered her to visit the public hospital to seek medical attention for a spur that was growing beneath her foot. When she refused, he had threatened to beat her with a belt.
She said that after Carl had picked up a belt and charged towards her, she had decided to run out of the house and head down to the hospital. When she returned later in the day, Carl was not at home.
He later returned and enquired about her, since neither she nor the child was in the apartment that they shared. When Carl arrived home and called for her, she informed him that she was upstairs in her mother’s apartment, and that she would be spending the night there, since the baby was not feeling well.
Melissa said that Carl then began cursing and behaving disorderly, breaking things in the process. After a while, he entered their apartment and began throwing things out of the home; then he called out to her and said, “Goodbye, Melissa.”
Melissa said that she heard when the apartment door was closed. There was silence, and, minutes after, she heard a loud noise and was instructed by her mother to check it out. Melissa said that she did not go to the door, as she was afraid that Carl would have hit her. Her sister, however, went and opened the door, and saw Carl hanging from a rafter in the home. He had used a rope from a hammock in the house to hang himself.
When an alarm was raised, two neighbours rushed over and severed the rope from the rafter. Carl was still alive then, but he died while awaiting a taxi to take him to the hospital.
Melissa said that, over the past few days, Carl had dared her and their child to sleep in the apartment with him. She said that Carl had not been in the habit of consuming alcohol on week days, but would have a field day on weekends, and that is when he would be abusive.
Mellissa and Carl had been friends for a number of years, after they had met while she was still in school. They had lost contact with each other for some time, but when they reconnected, they started a relationship that produced a child.