Tragedy struck at Garden of Eden, East Bank Demerara early Wednesday morning when 45-year-old Chitnandan Latchman hacked his wife, Suscilla, 38, to death, burnt his home and drank poison.
Suscilla was chopped several times about the body, before being doused with gasoline and set on fire.
The completely gutted house the couple once occupied
Latchman and the motionless, severely burnt body of his wife were pulled from the burning building at 48 First Street, Garden of Eden by members of the community. The badly burnt man is at the Georgetown Public Hospital in critical condition.
The couple had been married for 24 years, and had six children aged 24, 21, 22, 17, 18 and 15.
Police said investigations revealed that Suscilla and Chitnandan had an argument, and he subsequently torched the house, chopped her about the neck and other parts of the body, and drank a poisonous liquid.
Suscilla was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival, while Latchman was arrested and admitted under guard to the hospital after being transferred from the Diamond Diagnostic Centre. The cutlass suspected to have been used in the incident has been recovered by the police.
When Guyana Times International arrived on the scene, curious onlookers had flocked the area to get a glimpse of the woman who was covered by a plaid sheet.
In tears, Patricia Ramsindo, an aunt of the dead woman, related that the couple has been having domestic problems for the past two years.
Ramsindo related that she was at home when she saw smoke in the air, so she ran to investigate and saw her niece lying on the ground, while her nephew-in-law was being transported to the Diamond Diagnostic Centre.
Nebblett said she advised her niece on several occasions to leave the home, but Suscilla was only thinking about her children. She added that Latchman left the home a few times, but would return after a day or two.
The brother of Latchman, Suresh, who resides one house away from the couple, recounted the he was at work when he received a call informing him about the tragedy. He also said that the couple had been experiencing problems of late, and fought regularly; and despite the intervention of family members, the fights continued. He said that while he does not want to comment on the lifestyle of his deceased sister-in-law, there were rumours that the woman was unfaithful to his brother.
Suresh said that on several occasions, his brother told him that he would kill the woman and himself so that no one can get any property. The man’s brother disclosed that the man, a farmer, and his now dead wife own an orange field and lately bought a front-end bulldozer.
Samaroo Latchman, the couple’s son, said that he was at work when he received a call; and upon reaching the scene, the house was already gutted. He said that his mother and father would normally get into fights for trivial things.
The young Latchman, along with his brother and sisters, were being consoled by relatives and friends at the scene. He said he and his siblings will build a place to stay until they fully recover from the incident.
