kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
As tears flowed for murdered mother of three, Adeina Alleyne, her children sat in the front pew of the Pro-Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, San Fernando, unaware that she had sacrificed her life for theirs.
As he delivered the homily at Alleyne’s farewell yesterday, Fr David Khan told mourners that the greatest deception Alleyne received from the man who was supposed to love her was his intention to kill her two children. Khan revealed that her final act of love was to sacrifice herself in their place.
“Despite all her pains, her sadness and her sorrow, she knew the love of God. And she knew that love so much, she laid down her life for her children. For those who do not know, in her last moments, the trickery was, the deceit was, he was going to kill her child. That was the trickery and she offered herself as a sacrifice,” Khan said.
As Alleyne’s body left the cathedral, her daughter Shyla kissed her on her forehead and placed a yellow and white rose on her chest. During the service, she knelt before the altar and prayed for her mother.
Last Wednesday, Alleyne, 34, a supervisor at Puff N’ Stuff Bakery in Vistabella, left her Apartment 2, Building 3 home in Embacadere, San Fernando, to visit her former lover and father of her children, Dwight Waldrop. She had taken her seven-year-old son and two-year-old toddler to see Waldrop, a 33-year-old watchman who lived in Building 5. Her 10-year-old daughter was not there.
However, during the visit Waldrop savagely hacked Alleyne to death while the toddler screamed on the bed. The elder son ran to neighbours for help but when they arrived, Alleyne was already dead. The neighbours subsequently found Waldrop in the kitchen with a cord around his neck.
Neighbours and relatives said Alleyne had ended her relationship with Waldrop, who then threatened to kill her.
He even sharpened knives and tested them on himself before murdering her, they revealed.
Noting that scores of women had made similar fates while trying to leave abusive relationships over the past few years, Khan said it means that despite all the tragic experiences, it was clear that the nation has not learnt its lesson.
“This is not the first time this has happened. Over and over, this has happened in our nation and we did not learn. We did not let experiences change us. If we want change, we have to do things differently,” Khan said.
He said that abuse always begins with harsh language before it turns into physical violence. He said that in the lead-up to Alleyne’s death, she most likely cried out for help.
“What did you and I do as a people who say that we are a people of God, that we are brothers and sisters? Have we done what we were supposed to do?”
Acknowledging that both women and men suffer domestic abuse, Khan advised mourners that if someone claims to love them but abuses them, that is not true love. He reminded them that “action speaks louder than words.” He told them that anyone unwilling to lay down their life for them but puts their lives in danger is not a friend.
While Puff N’ Stuff remained opened yesterday, colleagues paid tribute with memories and poems.
