SELENA THROWN OUT: More stress for woman after husband’s death

Less than 24 hours after being released from police custody after the stabbing death of her common-law husband, Selena Khan received an eviction notice from her landlord, for breach of contract. The breach, Khan said, was her husband’s death.

Now Khan, her sons Darian, seven; Darren, six; and Damien, who is 14 months old, have five days to find a new home. Khan, 28, is pregnant with her fourth child.

The Cunupia family shot into the national spotlight last week Friday when Khan’s common-law husband Dayanand Dookie, 39, died of a single stab wound to the chest during an argument at their apartment on Chin Chin Road, Cunupia. Khan was detained for five nights as police investigated but was released without charge Wednesday night.

On Thursday, she told Newsday that Dookie stabbed himself by accident during a struggle over a knife that he pulled on her, while they were arguing. Khan said Dookie physically abused her for the entirety of their nine-year relationship, treating her as property. Yesterday, Khan said she returned to the apartment on Thursday afternoon to collect cash and clothes, as she and the children are staying with relatives, only to find her bedroom ransacked and the money missing.

“I had left about $600 in the apartment, because I could have only taken my purse when the police took me away, but the money is gone now,” Khan told Newsday. Her rent receipts for the time she has been living in the apartment were also missing and she said the keys to Dookie’s maxi taxi were given to a relative of his, who is now keeping the vehicle.

“I made a report to the Cunupia Police Station and they said if I have to get back the maxi, I have to bring up (name called) in a civil matter. So I have no help there, because I cannot afford to hire a lawyer. That maxi does not belong to him, it belongs to me and my children, he (the relative)is an adult who can fend for himself.”

When she contacted her landlord about the missing items, on Thursday, Khan said she was told she had to vacate the apartment by month’s end because she breached her contract. She produced a signed contract dated April 2017, a one-year lease for the two-bedroom apartment. “He said I breached the contract and when I asked him how, he said blood spilled in there, so we can’t live there any more.

“I signed a contract with him which states he was supposed to give me 30 days’ written notice, but he is not doing that. He also has a $2,100 security deposit that I paid him and he is refusing to give me that back.” Newsday contacted the landlord, who listened to the questions posed to him and responded, “I have absolutely no comment.” He then hung up. khan said she does not know what her next step should be.

“I have three children to feed and I have to be able to put a roof over my children’s head. The older boys have to go to school. “Right now I don’t know what to do or where to turn for help.”