Violence against women is a widespread social problem - but in the Past week it seems to have reached a sickening crescendo: on Tuesday 16 year old Libertad villager Elia Gonzalez was raped and killed on her way home from school; on Thursday morning a 13 year old first former girl had to fight off a rapist who attacked her in her home in the Lake Independence area and today saw another violent rape attempt in a quite Belize city suburb.
Shortly before noon, police were called out to mile 4 ½ on the Northern Highway where a woman had been brutally attacked - bludgeoned in the head with a hammer as her attacker tried to rape her.
It's a terrible story, but this cloud does have a silver lining; thanks to ever-watchful neighbors the alleged perpetrator was caught and served up a heaping helping of gritty street-side justice - Alfonso Noble has the story.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
Stanley Bailey says he was here at his worksite at mile 4 ½ on the Northern Highway when he saw a man run down this street into the nearby bushes. Suspecting something was wrong - Bailey set chase and pulled him out of the bushes - only to hear a cry for help coming from across the street.
Stanley Bailey, Hero
"I just saw a guy running on the street and then I heard a shout from a lady. I then went over there and saw the lady with two claw marks in her forehead from a hammer."
Alfonso Noble,
"A hammer?"
Stanley Bailey,
"Yes I actually saw the hammer mark and then she told us the guy attempted to rape her in front of her kids. And then after that I got angry and then I got loose and beat him up until police come."
"My first thought was that he was burglarizing somewhere or something, not knowing that he actually attempted to rape and kill an innocent woman with three kids."
"She had claw marks like I said on her forehead and she had a gash in the back of her forehead too but she still looked pretty well and let us know what had happened. Man it hurts to see these type of senseless crime happening in Belize City. We need to do something about it."
Alfonso Noble,
"Are you glad you caught him?"
Stanley Bailey,
"Well it's not a glad feeling for me noh. It's just what anybody would have done if they knew what had happened."
Bailey says he's had enough of this kind of thing and if he had to, he'd do it again.
Stanley Bailey,
"Definitely, no doubt. I am not saying I am a hero or anything like that but its just human behaviour. If you see somebody who needs help, you got to surrender help to them."
"We need more people out here to surrender these kinds of help because we can't let these guys get at away with these crimes. So to the public, let's get together and do something about it. It's been three rape attempts in the last week and let's tell them we won't tolerate crimes like these."
But thanks to, as his friends call him, this 240-pound hero, that did not happen and the man whom bailey caught was taken into custody by police after being issued a beating for his miscalculation on this day.
Bailey says he searched the assailant and found a gold chain inside his wallet presumably belonging to the victim. Police today charged 27-year-old George Waite a resident of Victoria Street for attempted rape. Waite is better known as "piece a easy."