so sad that these abused women did not have any means of defending themselves.
these two cases establish the fact that living with abusive spouses can lead to your death.
get yourself a gun i say, like madam chin.

Whats Going On in my Country?
Are we seeing the destruction of Men as an integral part of our society. Too many males are killing their female partners and then themselves. It appears that they are unable to accept the fact that they must love themselves first before proceeding to love another. A woman is not their 'possession', she is a friend, lover, wife, mother, not the object of their obsession. When these men kill the women, more often than not they are depriving children of their mothers. We have to take stock on how we raise our sons. We shelter our daughters, but we give free reign to our sons to do as they please, even turn a blind eye to their indiscretions, simply saying that 'boys will be boys', but this will do no more. So many of our males are following the trail of criminals and getting slaughtered, while others are getting caught up in family violence. Our sons are our future, and we have no choice but to care for them and guide them, teaching them the differences between right and wrong. These murders/suicides are a frightening trend, occurring every few days, and we cannot allow this to continue. May I ask the fathers in particular to step forward and try to save their sons from themselves. Men, if you have problems coping with relationships, please talk to someone you have confidence in, whether it is your parents, priest, counsellor, or friend. Cry for help if you need it - someone will come to your aid. I do realise that many men were raised to believe that asking for help is not manly, but this is very wrong. Taking a life is not manly, it is cowardice. Taking a life whether it is yours or someone you profess to love is the wrong thing to do.

Rudy Chato Paul, Sr.
This tragedy, along with the many others which have preceded it, and the many more to follow, can all be traced to a failed education system; an education system that prepares people merely to pass exams, and not deal with life. And the people at the UWI and other institutions are not engaging the population in any meaningful attempt to provide solutions. Everyone is busy trying to 'make a name for him/herself,' seeking power: how to get it and how to hold on to it. I will quote Robert Nestor Marley (again):'many more will have to suffer, many more will have to die.' And I will quote him until I see efforts being made to address the numerous social issues facing a small society such as ours. How many of us know others, or who ourselves, are living on the edge? the tipping point? How many of us have heard it said, or even said it ourselves, that 'will kill everything in the house, down to the fish? What, (or who) pray tell, is responsible for such line of reasoning?

Are our men, man or manicou ? That is the big question.
As I said in another blog, men must learn to take disappointment and walk. A great friend once told me that we must not allow our small hearts to rule our big bodies. If his spouse had died he would have had to do without her . So if somebody leave you or don't want to see you,please channel your energy into something useful. Do voluntary work, help a vagrant go and clean an old neighbours yard. But, please do not let your small uncontrolled heart make you do nonesense. You are supposed to be a man not a manicou.

My condolences to both families but especially to the Nanan family having experience the same fate twice. No amount of words can comfort you. We as parents have to educate both our sons and daughters about the value of someone else life. In the past murder suicide was prevalent in the Indian community as quoted by another blogger but they were not educated. We are in an era now where Domestic Abuse is mentioned in the schools, on the TV on the internet men should know better. There is no excuse for what this man did.

I hope that any young lady or man in a relationship and the man or woman as much as pushes you, get out of that relationship because abusers after they have committed the act will say they are sorry and it will not happen again.Bet your bottom dollar it will happen again. He fit the profile of an abuser. He came by wanting to talk but that was premeditated murder because he came armed with a knife.

I hope this never happens again.

Yes Wiggins, I agree with you but I really try hard to keep away from the race business since it does not solve anything in the long run. We live in a plural society where eating roti and doubles is not the only thing we learn. The cutlass and suicide was the weapon of choice for a certain ethnic group , and many others have come to feel that violence and cry cry baby business as seen in those Bollywood movies is the way to go.But we in Trini dad not India.

Religion and civic groups as well as polititians have a lot more than race to educate the people of this country about.
I still feel that some people too soft and don't know what self control is all about.

The Subject for Discussion/Critique should be VIOLENCE.
My dear friends - my partners, I have read some of the comments put forward and I am a bit uncomfortable with the thinking/reasoning of some of our readers. This article covers domestic violence committed by a man on a woman, and I presume the mother of his children. When I look at the photograph accompanying this artile I do not see "Indian" or "otherwise". What I see is a family in turmoil. Yes, along the way the name "Nanan" appears. It may give some the impression that this is an "Indian" family, but we have lived in T&T for too long to still hold on to this type of identification and use it to promote racial agendas and slander of onother race. In the same tone, the name of the 'alledged' murderer does not reflect 'indian-ness'. Violence, and violence against women in particular crosses all lines of racial demarcation. These are 'our people' committing these acts, not 'indians' or 'otherwise'. So as a country that prides itself as being progressive, I would really appreciate reading comments addressing the subject of VIOLENCE among our people, causes, effects, and possible remedies, and once in a while leaving race out of it. We should try to be part of the solution, not create more problems. Remember we are our brothers and sisters keepers. We are not the gate keepers, judge and jury of any particular race, nor should we be. We are all children of the same God. Peace and Love!

PS: May I recomend a book for reading: PRISONS WE CHOOSE TO LIVE INSIDE - by Doris LESSING - published a while ago, but if you can put your hands on it, it will be a plus - less than 100 pages - light reading. This is a commentary on the book: "Doris Lessing addresses the question of personal responsibility in a world increasingly prone to political rhetoric, mass emotions and inherited structures of unquestionable belief. In her remarkably subtle yet forthright style, Lessing attacks inhumanity and ignorance, urging the individual to rise above the constraints of our society, to build a better world."

wiggins! just when I started to sweeten up to you and even, on another blog, told you how much I really respect some of your comments, you suddenly come with this Indian talk!!! The last two murder suicides were NOT involving persons of Indian descent. Wiggy, now I am wondering what your game really is. Perhaps you have it wrong and you really mean to say that many of the SUICIDES by a certain insecticide are committed by this race of people, though, I must say, not a lot in recent times. Oh God, wiggins you should not go making these rash statements about our folks man. Can you give some statistics now please, I mean some bona fide ones. thanks, J Maharaj

Racism rears its ugly head. We come to these forums and lend our opinions and listen to and challenge those of our fellow contributors. We all seem to have one objective in mind - showing our concern and love for our Trinidad. Yet, when some of us choose to throw in race into the mix it does not add value. i am sure there are other forums other there for those who dont like indians or blacks or whites or chinese or... and the list goes on.

I suggest that those of you that sees life through the lens of race take up camp on those aforementioned forums and leave us true trinis here to 'opinionate' and vent and cry for the state of affairs in our beloved Trinidad in a critical but constructive manner. Don S. NY