“It is the end of it (the relationship) because numerous times he hit me. I got black and blue in my hands. I got slap to my mouth, burst up and I keep forgiving him. How long am I going to keep forgiving him? At this moment, I could see that he wanted to kill me. If it was not for my father and brother, I would be dead by now.”
By Lakhram Bhagirat
“I stayed because everyone deserves a second chance and try. I know there is something bothering him, making he do this, so I tried talking to him and eventually I does get what’s bothering him and I told him that he can’t be hitting me.” That is what 22-year-old Zennell Persaud-Joseph told me one day after her boyfriend had severely beaten her.Zennell is mother to a six-year-old and like many women, she knew her relationship with Mark Anthony was toxic, but she loved him and enjoyed the time they spent together. Zennell began a relationship with Mark about nine months ago after she and her husband mutually separated.
At first, like any other relationship, Mark was a caring and understanding partner but after a few months, things began getting worse. He became extremely possessive and jealous. Zennell explained that after her marriage ended, she moved back to her parents’ Foulis, East Coast Demerara home, which is a stone’s throw away from where Mark lives. She currently works as a sales girl in Georgetown.
The couple would normally have heated arguments over petty things such as text messages or her having conversations with other people. The first instance of physical violence was a
few months into their relationship while having drinks at a bar. Zennell was sitting on a stool when Mark started an argument which resulted in him kicking her to the side of her stomach in the crowded bar. The other instance was when they were hanging out with friends at a bar-be-que when he dealt her several slaps for no apparent reason.
“People knew that I was actually in this abusive relationship and people keep telling me Zennell you should get out because this is not healthy for you. I told him that he can’t be hitting me because since I am small I am travelling with a headache and he knew of my head injury,” she said.
As time progressed, so did the level of violence in their relationship, but Zennell stayed because she felt that she could change Mark. She wanted to show him that she was faithful and loved only him but the jealousy clouded that judgement and on Caricom Day this year, she saw him at his worst.
Recounting the day’s events, Zennell said earlier in the day she was out at the Enmore seawalls on a fishing trip with her friend’s family and would have informed Mark of her whereabouts while he was on a drinking spree. At some point, one of her co-workers and her husband from La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara visited her and after that, she left with them to celebrate the couple’s anniversary.
When she returned home later in the evening, Mark began accusing her of being unfaithful while verbally abusing her and they got into an intense argument. Later in the night, he called her and continued his abuse rant but she disconnected the phone after which he sent her a message asking her to visit his home. She left the house without informing anyone and after arriving at Mark’s, she was told to leave.
“So I turned my back and took three steps and from behind he came and start hitting me and start accusing me of being unfaithful. While he keep talking he keep hitting me constantly. One cuff after the next till I fell on the ground and he stomp me in my head. He kicked me and he keep hitting me. He start thumping me down the road right through, start pushing me, eventually he hit me behind my head again and I fell and when I fell it is like if I lose consciousness and when I do catch back myself, he was still hitting me and I start bleeding from my mouth and nose. He was hoisting me and lashing me down, that was when I was unconscious.”
Zennell says Mark was taking her to the friend she had gone fishing with to verify her story and while walking over there, he was repeatedly hitting her while she screamed in pain and begged for mercy. Eventually someone saw what was happening and informed her parents after which her father and brother rushed to the scene. However, Mark saw them approaching and quickly made good his escape.
“Eventually I went to my friend and cried and told her what happened and we took a taxi and went to Enmore Police Station and they gave me a medical. I was at the Georgetown Public Hospital doing my medical whole night and I came home like 6:30 this morning because I had to go through X-rays and blood tests,” Zennell recounts.
On Tuesday morning, she revisited the Police station where she gave a detailed statement and was sent away by officers. She had been receiving threats from Mark throughout the day but the Police did nothing and it was only after she got into contact with a senior official did the ranks at the Enmore Police Station act on the report.
“It is the end of it (the relationship) because numerous times he hit me. I go black and blue in my hands. I got slap my mouth, burst up and I keep forgiving him. How long am I going to keep forgiving him? At this moment, I could see that he wanted to kill me. If it was not for my father and brother, I would be dead by now.”
Zennell is advising all women who are in abusive relationships to ensure that they remove themselves before it is too late. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
