WESTMORELAND, Jamaica – “Mi frighten till mi almost dead!” That is how the 91-year-old woman who was raped in Darliston, Westmoreland recounted the traumatic ordeal that has turned her world upside down.

The woman recounted to Observer Online on Monday how she was awakened by a noise at her window, only to find a stranger inside her house.

After seeking medical attention for the assault, the elderly woman has returned home. Her grandson, facing criticism for allowing her to live alone, is appealing to the government for assistance to bring her to a safe haven.

He stated that he is unable to provide better care as other family members have reportedly abandoned her.

“A mi alone, everything deh pan mi. Mi cyah manage…,” the distraught man said, noting that her son who used to care for her is now deceased.

Recalling the night his grandmother sought his help, the distressed man said “she was crying out my name.”

“I was so frightened. I feel bad about it cause she come over my yard 1:30 am and mi and her talk and den mi call the police,” he added.

He also alleged that this was not the first time his grandmother had been sexually assaulted.

“I am asking for help from the government. [I want] somebody to take her where she can be safe. Mi heart will feel better,” he said while noting that he has to be on the lookout for her.

When Observer Online visited the community on Monday, the 91-year-old woman was seen struggling with a crutch in one hand and a basin in the other as she attempted to reach the clothesline to hang out her laundry.

Recounting the incident that left her heartbroken, she said, “Lord have mercy! Him pull the blade and come in and mi a seh a how him come up deh high places deh. Two sticks around [the back] – a it him use come in,” she told Observer Online.

“Him come over me and hug me. Mi frighten till mi almost dead” she said.

She highlighted that she asked the perpetrator to stop.

One resident, who assisted the elderly woman to the hospital last year after the first rape incident, echoed calls for her to be taken to an infirmary to prevent a recurrence of the incident.

“These people are so heartless. It is really hard,” the woman bemoaned.

Meanwhile, another resident emphasised the need to capture the perpetrator.

“A di second time now. Dem [the police] need to act now…,” the concerned resident told Observer Online.

Reports from the police are that the elderly woman was alone at home in her two-bedroom board dwelling house when she was awakened by strange sounds from her rear window. She then saw a man in her room who reportedly sexually assaulted her against her will.

READ: Elderly woman raped in Westmoreland

According to lawmen, entry to the house was gained by removing several louvre blades from a rear window.

According to the police, the man responsible is still at large.

Meanwhile, member of parliament candidate for Westmoreland Eastern and general secretary for the People’s National Party, Dr Dayton Campbell, described the incident as one of the most “evil, depraved, diabolical, dastardly, wicked act that has ever been committed against a human being.”

“To think that someone would violate an elderly in that manner speaks to a degradation of values within aspects of our society and we can only hope and pray that God will touch the hearts of these individuals who are so callous to even contemplate such an act and that he will transform their ways so they can repent of this evil thing that is afflicting them.”

Campbell also shared that he’s in discussion with persons at the municipality to relocate the elderly woman to a safe space.

– Kimberley Peddie