ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica- Councillor for the Santa Cruz Division in St Elizabeth, Christopher Williams is calling for greater support for the mentally challenged after an elderly resident was wounded in an attack by a woman believed to be of unsound mind.

It took six stitches to close the incision to the neck, the victim told Observer Online.

“I went to the pharmacy to buy medication,” the elderly woman said while showing our news team pictures of her blood-soaked blouse.

She stressed that there was no provocation prior to the attack.

“I saw the [attacker] when she came across from the other side of the plaza and she came towards my direction. But I didn’t see her in a violent way, she didn’t look like someone off her rockers. I didn’t even hear that she was behind me. I just felt something [being] hauled across my neck, I felt it burning and by the time I looked there was nothing but blood,” she recounted.

The elderly woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said the female attacker cut her and went on her way without so much as a word.

She fears if her attacker had wanted to, she could have been killed.

“I told the policeman I don’t think she used a knife because the thing was very sharp. She hardly put any pressure on my neck, she just drew it across and it cut so badly,” she said.

The wound is right below her right ear to the side of her neck. She says if her attacker had applied any real force: “mi woulda dead.”

the bloadsoaked blouse of a St Elizabeth retiree after she was cut in the neck by a woman believed to be of unsound mind

The woman explained she had had the stitches in for over two weeks after the December 6 attack but expressed that the worst of the pain is over. The retiree added, however, that it had been a challenge to pay for medication and for thrice weekly trips to get the wound dressed.

While getting treatment at hospital, the retiree was called in by cops to identify her attacker, who was subsequently arrested by police.

Unconfirmed reports by residents of the area indicate that at least one other person, a man, has been stabbed in a similar incident involving a woman believed to be of unsound mind.

St Elizabeth police confirmed to Observer Online that they are looking into the issue and Williams said officials at the municipal corporation are on alert as well.

“I raised that issue at general council because at the time when I got the information, I heard it was a mentally challenged person,” Williams explained. “After that, not from an official, but I was informed that this wasn’t a mentally challenged person but this is somebody who is a substance abuser. That is the correct thing to say,” he told Observer Online.

Williams says there has been discussions on how to involve public health personnel, the municipal corporation, the police and the public health representatives to tackle the issue of homeless mentally challenged individuals, violence prone or otherwise.

“The mentally challenged persons are of concern. I must tell you, real concern because some time ago, there was a video going around of one of the women who pushed a student who was walking along the sidewalk. Luckily, the truck that was basically travelling along the roadway did not run over that student,” he said.

He cited an incident in Junction, St Elizabeth last year where a labourer of Tryall was bludgeoned to death by a man suspected to be of unsound mind.

“We cannot wait for something drastic to happen in the town before we act. We have seen a situation where in the Junction space, something tragic occurred involving somebody who is mentally challenged. We have to try and prevent that in Santa Cruz,” he argued.

The councillor says the number of suspected mentally-ill individuals in the town is growing as well, and he is hoping for ministerial assistance.

“Over a period of time, the numbers have risen, in terms of the number of mentally challenged persons in the area. We are hoping that we can get some assistance from some relevant ministries, the ministry of local government I think will have a role to play, and also the ministry of health,” he stated.

Williams stressed that the solution is not to just gather up and remove the individuals but to get them “real help.”

“That is very important because, you know, we care about everybody, mentally challenged and all those who are sane. So, we just don’t want to get them out of Santa Cruz space and just put them anywhere. We want to put them somewhere where they can be helped, you understand, and looked out for,” said Williams.

– Dana Malcolm