Woman doused with gasoline, lit on fire

When Brenton “Gorilla” Richardson heard screams coming from the home of Monique Clarke, he knew something was wrong.

Richardson feared the worst, not because it was 4 in the morning or because there was noise at Clarke’s home, but because in all the years that he knew Clarke, she had never made such a racket, even though she and her boyfriend often fought.

On Sunday morning, Clarke, a 45-year-old domestic worker of Biabou, was involved in a dispute with a male, at which time a liquid, said to be gasoline, was thrown on her, after which she was lit on fire.

Clarke’s 13-year-old son doused her with water, putting out the flames that had burnt all her clothes from her body, leaving her in only her underwear.

She was rushed to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital, where she is nursing serious burns that have left her without the use of one eye.

Richardson said that when he arrived on the scene, he saw smoke and immediately got to work, throwing water from a barrel on to the blaze. He said that he saw Clarke, crying in pain and moving through a shortcut, crying for someone to help her.  

Marla Kydd, Clarke’s long-time friend, described the injured woman as someone who was very helpful and always ready to work.

“She is an anybody person; you could send her anywhere,” said Kydd, who noted that Clarke made a living from washing, cleaning, running errands and doing odd jobs in the Biabou community.

She also described Clarke as someone who loves to enjoy herself partying and would sometimes consume alcohol.

Kydd said that she was told by Clarke’s son that he heard an argument between his mother and a male, but he went back to bed, as he did not think it was serious.

The youngster told Clarke that after returning to bed, he heard a voice say “Yo bad, yo bad,” after which he felt heat. On investigating he saw his mother on fire and threw water on her.

Police have detained Biabou resident Pedro Ashton in relation to the incident.(LC)