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GUYANA CHRONICLE Monday, September 7, 2015
Suspect confesses to molesting, battering elderly Stanleytown woman POLICE have arrested a man who has reportedly confessed to the fatal battering and sexual assault of an elderly Stanleytown woman back in July. Magon Jones-Cox, 68, also known as Jean Bernard, was found in July with several broken bones and part of her tongue severed. She was reportedly battered by three men and sexually assaulted before being left to die on the jetty at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Bank Demerara. Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle late yesterday, the dead woman’s daughter, Cleotha Cox, said that she last saw her mother on July 10,, 2015 in Bartica. Cox said that her mother had been mentally unstable due to family issues, and other domestic problems. She related that on the same day her mother was battered, she had travelled by herself from Bartica to
The late Magon Jones-Cox
the West Demerara Regional Hospital for her medication. She said that after collecting it, the woman went to visit another elderly woman who had been her schoolmate. After visiting the friend, the woman then left to take a walk in the Vreed-en-Hoop area and she had planned to return to her son’s house
at Stanleytown, West Bank Demerara. While she has hanging out by herself, she was attacked by three men, according to her daughter. The woman recalled that when her mother was found, she had a broken jaw, part of her tongue was severed, and her ribs, right arm and leg were broken, while her right eye had been plucked out. Cox was rescued by persons from the community in a semi-conscious state. She was asked if she could speak and responded by nodding her head in the negative but when asked if she was able to write, she nodded in confirmation. It was then that the woman wrote her name and how persons could contact her relatives. Additionally, the woman also reportedly wrote the names of the persons who had battered her and that information was reportedly passed on to the police
The Guyana Chronicle also learnt that the woman was first admitted to the West Demerara Regional Hospital and subsequently transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she died three days later. However it was only two weeks ago that the woman’s body was identified by her daughter who visited the hospital morgue to identify the body of another relative who had died after ingesting poison. Cox explained that when she visited the hospital to identify the other relative, someone who heard her name told her that they believe that her mother was also in the morgue. The woman immediately went to the morgue and asked if there was a body there bearing her mother’s name. An employee confirmed that the records indicated that there was such a body. Cox was then told that she
had to check with the Alberttown Police Station since the matter was the subject of a police investigation. At Alberttown, she was told that she needed to check with the police at the Vreeden-Hoop Police Station. However, the ranks there were not quite co-operative, Cox recalled. After she left there, she told a stranger on the road about her difficulty at the station. The stranger summoned two other women and together they told her that they were familiar with the circumstances surrounding her mother’s death. One of them also took her to someone who had retrieved her mother’s severed tongue. Cox said that she immediately went back to the police station, showed the ranks the plastic bag with the tongue and also related to them that she was given the names of the persons who had battered her mother.
It was while at the police station that one of the suspects was passing by and the distraught woman pointed him out to the police but she was told that they needed to first perform a post-mortem on the body before they could make an arrest. When the post-mortem was performed last Friday, it was found that the woman had broken bones and was also sexually assaulted. The police then acted on the first set of information they received, and arrested the very person Cox had pointed out to them. The suspect, who was picked up on Saturday, the same day that Magon Jones was laid to rest, reportedly confessed to battering the woman, and told the police that he did so all by himself. The police then released another man who was also being held over the same matter.
Indigenous community proves language, culture not lost By Shivanie Sugrim AMID spectacular displays of Indigenous cuisine and talented artistry, the Amerindian community last Friday proved to a gathering of thousands that their language and culture are not lost. An array of indigenous persons draped in their native clothing dominated the celebrations of Indigenous Heritage Month at the Sophia Exhibition Site last Friday, just after sunset. The talented artistes illustrated life in the various indigenous communities through the use of songs and poems in native languages and lengthy, but appealing ancient stories about their villages. Leading the show was the Surama Cultural Group that comprises the Makushi tribe from Surama Village, which is nestled in North Rupununi. Decked in their colourful head dresses and fine jewellery made of beads and feathers, the group performed a captivating cassava-processing dance in the Makushi language, illustrating the making of cassava dishes in the Surama Village. The village is blessed with huge rivers and wildlife in its open savannahs and is home to nearly 500 people. Nestled in the village is the Surama Eco-Lodge that offers guests an opportunity to have an experience of a lifetime in a region that has been largely untouched by tourism. The village is made up of a few communities where Wapishana and Patamona are spoken besides Makushi. While being the leading participants at this year’s Indigenous Heritage Month observances, the Moraikabai villagers from Region 5, (Mahaica-Berbice) came second in dominating the stage as its Wakaraiyo Cultural Group displayed traditional Arawak dances, the Mari-Mari and Koroberu. Moraikabai is the only indigenous village in Region 5 and is situated about two and a half miles up the Mahaicony Creek and has a population of 1,500. They are chiefly descendants of the Arawak tribe, and are largely Christians, being either Anglicans, Pentecostals or members of the Church of Christ. Other excellent village displays were exhibited by the Katiwau Cultural Group, the Karandanau Cultural Group, the Masekeneri Cultural Group and Paramakatoi and St. Cuthbert’s Mission villagers.
The Katiwau Cultural Group doing the ‘Vaquero’, or cowboy dance (Photos by Adrian Narine)
A young Surama girl delivering a poem titled, ‘My Guyana’ in her native clothing
Children from Rupertee Village doing the cockroach dance