Senior Reporter
jensen.lavende@guardian.co.tt
Tricia Villaruel, the mother of Amarah Lallite, the four-year-old girl who was beheaded supposedly by a close male relative on Monday night, says death is too light a punishment for her daughter’s killer.
“Death will be too easy for him. I want (him) to suffer like how Amarah suffered when he was mutilating her. I want him to suffer. I want him to become an old, old, old man and suffering still. I don’t want him dead. Death will be too easy for he. Death can’t bring back meh baby so he might as well just suffer,” she said.
Villaruel, 41, said she and the 39-year-old suspect were in a common-law relationship for four years. He had been in Amarah’s life since she was a few months old and until the night of the brutal killing he had been “very protective” of the child.
However, in the days leading up to the incident, he began behaving erratically, inspecting the child’s birth certificate and asking why his name was not on it.
Villaruel said she thought he would snap back to reality and never expected him to harm the child who called him “daddy”.
Amarah is believed to have been killed between 10 pm Monday and midnight yesterday at her Fifth Street, Five Rivers, Arouca home when Villaruel went to the Arouca Police Station to report a domestic violence incident.
She said the suspect grabbed at her clothing and attempted to pull her into a bedroom in an unprovoked attack. She said she pulled away and called out to her daughter who was in the room lying on a bed, engrossed in her tablet.
When Villaruel escaped his grip, she ran to the Arouca Police Station which is a few minutes away.
Police officers accompanied Villaruel back to the house which was locked and in darkness when they arrived. They called out to the suspect several times before he emerged barebacked and wearing three-quarter pants.
The officers instructed the mother to carry out a welfare check for the child. When she entered the house, however, she screamed uncontrollably upon finding Amarah’s headless body.
Villaruel recalled “tripping off” when she found her child’s lifeless and headless body in one of the bedrooms. The head was found in a barrel at the back of the house.
The 39-year-old suspect remains in police custody and senior homicide officials are expected to approach the Director of Public Prosecutions for directions.
The horrific murder continues to send shockwaves across the country.
In a statement, the Children’s Authority said was is deeply saddened by the horrific and brutal murder of Amarah.
Sheldon Cyrus, director/chief executive officer of the authority noted that “children are not to be used as bargaining chips in relationships or as collateral to sway an argument.”
He added: “Some persons continue to treat children as objects, things with which they can do as they please instead of treating them as actual human beings full of promise and potential. Persons are reminded that acts of violence against children are illegal and the Authority stands ready to assist the TTPS and the Courts to bring perpetrators to justice.
“While it is not easy for victims of domestic violence to reach out when they need help, I urge them to do so. I also want to encourage their friends and family members to make reports if they are aware of what is going on in the home.”
The authority said domestic violence and child abuse are often linked and to safeguard the children, people must do the needful.
Cyrus reiterated his appeal to parents, caregivers and families to seek support if they are experiencing challenges.
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar spoke about the killing after taking part in Eid celebrations at the Nur-e-Islam Mosque in El Socorro, Persad-Bissessar spoke to the media about children trapped in Syria.
“I cannot even bear to think of it. I mean that is beyond bizarre, really horrifying, and we extend, of course, our condolences to the affected families. It is as though we are getting with each day, the horror is increasing in our country. I don’t see what we can do,” she said.