UWI principal denounces staffer's murder

PRINCIPAL of The UWI, St Augustine campus, Prof Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, has denounced the death of Marissa Edwards, whose body was found in a drain two days after her boyfriend was found dead, hanging from a tree.

In a media release on Thursday, Antoine said Edwards’ death was yet another example of gender-based violence, with this one especially hitting home. Edwards, 39, was an administrative clerk at the Department of Paraclinical Sciences in the university's Faculty of Medicine.

“Words are often inadequate, especially when we are speaking about someone so young, vibrant, and much loved, with so much yet left to offer her family and friends. It is even worse when the circumstances surrounding her passing are tragic.

"Such acts are irrational although we understand they point to deep-seated defects in our society which we must address,” Antoine said.

Edwards left her Freeport home on September 18, telling relatives she was going to lime with her boyfriend Simeon Roopchand, 51, with whom she had an on-again, off-again relationship. She was never seen alive again.

Roopchand's body was found in the Tabaquite forests on Saturday. Edwards's body was found on Monday in a drain.

Also in the UWI release, Dr Sue Ann Barratt, lecturer and head of UWI’s Institute for Gender and Development Studies, said gender-based violence is a persistent threat to the lives of all women.

“Violence in all its forms must come to an end. We at the IGDS/UWI call on the national community to reflect on the far-reaching consequences of the diverse forms of violence we often deem as societal norms.

"Most importantly, we call for an ‘all-of-society approach’ in identifying, and eliminating all forms of tolerance that facilitate the growth, expression and acceptance of these interlocking and varied forms of violence,” Barratt said.