Pastor in Belmopan Arrested in Shocking Case of Woman Held Captive for Eight Days by Husband and Family

For 8 days, a 23-year-old woman was held captive by her husband and his parents, who are in police custody awaiting charges. It is a horrific ordeal primarily seen in movies. According to police, on October 15, the victim tried to leave her husband and fled from their home. She attempted to seek refuge at her parents’ home but they were not there so she was forced to return to her husband the following day. Upon her return, her father-in-law, a Church Pastor in Belmopan, reportedly tied her hands and feet with a torn-up t-shirt and placed her under a flight of stairs inside the house. She was reportedly physically assaulted, sexually harassed by her father-in-law, and starved. The only food she had was chips that the children (including hers) occasionally gave her. She remained under the stairs, forced to sit in her excrement for days. It was not until she managed to escape last night around 7 o’clock and made her way to John Saldivar Boulevard where she encountered officers. She was given time to take a bath and was taken to the hospital for a medical assessment. This evening, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams weighed in on the horrific ordeal and explained that the woman was assisted with finding a safe place to stay. 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “The police are looking at the entire case and hopefully by the end of the day today we’ll know exactly what charges to be levied against those persons. Well again it’s something that we had been working on along with different organizations to see what we can do to address the issue of domestic violence. Many women are out there who are living abusive life and they are afraid to come forward and speak simply because in many instances the abuser is the money earner in the house and they fear losing that income and because of that they don’t report these cases but again we try to encourage women and men who are victims of domestic violence to please come forward and se what we can do to be able to help them. The government has many programs through the Women’s Department, through the Ministry of Human Development they can assist in trying to see what can be done to address these issues.”

Reporter: Has she reported domestic issues before ? 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “I don’t want to go into the lady’s history. She’s not the perpetrator of the crime so I’d rather leave it at that.”

Reporter: Has she needed additional help ? Therapy, counseling, medical assistance ?

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “Well certainly we are looking at that and whatever help she may need then we will seek from other agencies to see what we can do to assist her maybe even getting a safe house if it is that her family will not be able to keep her safe then we can see if we can speak to Haven House or some other institution that may be able to help her until she can get herself back together.”

Since the story broke, another narrative has emerged indicating that the woman was possessed and that is the reason why the pastor had her subdued.  Another report is that the woman has been known to suffer from mental illness.  Up to news time tonight, no charges had been levied against the alleged perpetrators.