Las Lomas mother of six murdered

A LAS Lomas mother of six became this country’s 227th murder victim on Saturday night when she was attacked with a hatchet and then had her throat slit by a close relative. Farida Mohammed, 46, was killed shortly after she returned to her Chin Chin Road home after attending a birthday party for her daughter. Relatives said Mohammed’s murder followed almost 25 years of physical and mental abuse. Her sister, Aphrose Hosein, told Newsday: “Many times she left and went by family  but would return either because the family told her to go and try again, or because of the two last children or he went and begged, promising he would change. “On one occasion he bought bricks and promised to build a proper house, on another occasion he bought a car and promised to work it, but soon after she returned, the beatings started all over (again) and the promises never got going.”

Relatives said police officers visited the house on Friday in response to a report of domestic abuse. They also revealed that Mohammed had taken out a restraining order against a close relative and had gone to court on several occasions for domestic violence but had eventually dropped all the cases. She had even sought refuge in a safe house but left. Hosein recalled: “She often said the only way she would have left her house for good was in a coffin and so it happened. The ironic thing is that after the police visited on Friday she had packed to leave and this relative stopped her, telling her she cannot go as yet because the next day was her daughter’s birthday and the child would be disappointed if she did not attend.” According to reports, Mohammed returned home from the birthday party around 7.30 pm and soon got involved in a dispute with a relative. According to reports, the relative grabbed her, dragged her into a bedroom and locked the door.

Around 9.30 pm, the victim’s daughter, Farisha, 19, who was sitting outside, heard screams and began banging on the door. When she got no response she alerted neighbours. The relative fled the scene and Mohammed was discovered lying face down in a pool of blood with injuries to her neck and the back of her head. “My mother was a warm and loving woman who took the abuse because she loved her children,” said her eldest son, Feroze. “Right now we are living in fear because this man has promised to kill five people before he is held.” Police sources confirmed they had investigated several reports of domestic violence made by the woman but she always dropped the cases. Late yesterday, relatives of the victim held a 50-year-old labourer from the area and handed him over to the police.