[UPDATED] Freeport fire victim, 41, dies at hospital

THIS society needs to promote equality and respect as hallmarks for strong and healthy relationships, suggested Sabrina Mowlah-Baksh, general manager of the NGO Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CADV).

Her comments came on the evening of September 18, hours after Afiya Adams, the mother of three from Freeport who was set on fire at her home on September 14, died.

Adams, 41, died around midday at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope, where she had been in a critical condition since the attack.

Mowlah-Baksh told Newsday that many survivors of intimate partner violence suffer in silence. In contrast, the experiences of others are known either by family, neighbours, friends or members of the community.

"How do we fix it? It requires multiple actions by a range of actors. From a preventative perspective, culturally, we need to promote equality and respect as hallmarks for strong and healthy relationships," Mowlah-Baksh said in a statement.

"Equality and respect remove the need for one partner to exercise power and control in a relationship. Violence must not be visioned as the only way to resolve conflicts or to discipline."

She said the tragic news came days before CADV hosts the second edition of its Savannah Lap event on September 21 at the Queen's Park Savannah to raise awareness about abuse.

She said victims commonly would have experienced various types of abuse before being brutally attacked or killed.

"From a response point of view, all agencies tasked with providing protection, justice and services to survivors must treat every report with the urgency it requires. The responses to this type of violence should not be cultural or systemic but professional," she said.

"We simply cannot afford to ignore this issue and hope it will go away. It cannot be just the handful of organisations who do this work carrying the burden. We all have a responsibility to stop this."

Mowlah-Baksh said CADV recognises the collective action required for this to happen.

"This is why we will continue to keep this on the front burner as a national issue. The Savannah Lap Event was conceptualised precisely because we cannot afford to stop the advocacy for this type of violence to end," she said.

"The normalisation of this violence has to cease immediately. We continue to encourage survivors to seek support. Alongside this, we also continue to encourage friends, colleagues, families and communities to support survivors experiencing violence. They cannot do it alone."

She emphasised that a support system is critical for victims to cope with existing forms of abuse or exit violent relationships.

She encouraged people to call CADV at 624-0402.

On September 14, around 5 am, Adams, of Maraj Avenue, off Mission Road, returned home from a family birthday celebration in Golconda, San Fernando.

The suspect, a close male relative, and Adams argued, and was doused with a flammable substance, set her on fire, and left. He was also burned, but his injuries were not as severe as Adam's.

Adams lived with two of three children, nine and 15, and they were also in the house at the time of the attack.

Adams was taken to the hospital.

On the night of September 15, the suspect surrendered to Central Division police and was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital.

Up to September 18, he was still at the burns unit of the under police guard.

On September 17, Adams' mother, Chandradaye Maraj-Adams, described the attack as totally outrageous, adding it was done out of jealousy and rage. She told Newsday that her only daughter sustained burns to her chin and "straight down her body."

As Adams was still alive, the police were investigating the matter as an attempted murder and PC Tull of the Freeport police station was leading the investigation.

After her death, detectives from the Homicide Bureau of Investigations, Region Three, have been informed.

A Facebook post on September 17 from the NGO International Women's Resource Network (IWRN) said the organisation yet again strongly condemned domestic violence.

"Once the culture and mindset of men is one that suggests ownership of a woman then these types of violent incidents would continue," the post said.

"We have said on numerous occasions that protection orders are a waste of time as restricting the movements of perpetrators towards victims only exacerbates an already dangerous situation. Again, the IWRN's recommendations have fallen on deaf ears."

The post added that based on IWRN's work and related research, these incidents are usually a culmination of domestic abuse that has been occurring over some time.

"Despite the work done by civil society groups on domestic violence, there remains a paucity of safe spaces where victims can be relocated and really feel safe, hence the unwillingness of some victims to go public with their situation."

The organisation said it remains committed to working and protecting domestic violence victims, which includes relocating them to another country once feasible.

"But in the meantime, the authorities in Trinidad and Tobago need to do much more to protect victims once a report is made to the police. We must start there as if reports are taken lightly; we would continue to witness fatalities."

Calls to IWRN's president on September 18 for further comments went unanswered.

This story was originally published with the title "Freeport fire victim, 41, dies at hospital" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

AFIYA ADAMS, the mother of three from Freeport who was set on fire at her home on September 14, has died.

Adams, 41, died around midday on September 18 at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in Mt Hope, where she had been in a critical condition since the attack.

A relative confirmed the news, adding that family members were consoling each other at the hospital.

On September 14, around 5 am, Adams, of Maraj Avenue, off Mission Road, returned home from a family birthday celebration in Golconda, San Fernando.

The suspect, a close male relative, and Adams argued, and he doused her with a flammable substance, set her on fire, and left. He was also burned, but his injuries are not as severe as Adams's.

Adams lives with two of three children, nine and 15, and they were also in the house at the time of the attack.

Adams was taken to the hospital.

On the night of September 15, he surrendered to Central Division police and was taken to the San Fernando General Hospital.

Up to September 18, he was still at the burns unit of the under police guard.

On September 17, Adams’ mother Chandradaye Maraj-Adams described the attack as totally outrageous, adding it was done out of jealousy and rage. She told Newsday that her only daughter sustained burns to her chin and “straight down her body.”

As Adams was still alive, the police were investigating the matter as an attempted murder and PC Tull of the Freeport Police Station was leading the investigation.

Now that Adams died, detectives from the Homicide Bureau of Investigations, Region Three, have been informed.