Alleged wife abuser commits suicide in lockup – police

Last Updated on Monday, 6 May 2024, 23:12 by Writer

A man, who was previously convicted for physically abusing his wife, allegedly committed suicide on Monday in a cell at the Lethem Police Station where he was being held for a similar accusation after a neighbour called in police, the Guyana Police Force said.

Dead is 37-year-old Carl Benedict, a driver who resided at St Ignatius Village, Rupununi, Region Nine (Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo).

Police said the man hanged himself with the waist band of his shorts on Monday, May 6, 2024 between 5 AM and 7:45 AM at the Lethem Police Station.

“At about 07:45 hrs. on Monday, May 6, 2024, the ranks entered the lockups and discovered Carl hanging by his neck with the ‘waist band’ of his shorts, which he had removed and tied to the metal vent on the lockups’ southern wall,” police said in a statement. The body showed no marks of violence and is currently lying at the Lethem hospital awaiting post-mortem examination, police added.

Police said its Office of Professional Responsibility was also investigating the occurrence.

Investigators said that on Sunday, May 5, 2024, they received a call from a concerned resident reporting that Benedict was assaulting his wife. After he was arrested and taken to the Lethem Police Station, police said his clothes were removed, and he was placed in a cell by himself with only shorts on, while his wife’s statement was being taken. Police said she was also issued with a medical certificate and escorted to seek medical attention for her injuries.

The Police Force said Benedict and his wife had been together for 18 years and had five children. “During their relationship, she was subjected to constant physical abuse,” police said. Those incidents were reported to the police at Lethem Police Station, and he was charged and convicted on May 16, 2023 on one of the charges and was fined GY$10,000.