10-year-old burnt by stepfather: Grandmother was taking care of child for years

– blames CPA for taking child away

The grandmother of the 10-year-old boy who allegedly was burnt by his stepfather last month has said that the child’s parents are unfit to be parents, and that she is blaming the Child Care and Protection Agency (CPA) for removing the child from under her care.
This 10-year-old boy was reportedly burnt by his stepfather at their Enmore, East Coast Demerara home on September 7. The child had lived with his grandmother from the age of 8 months old until she was forced to send him back to his mother when he was 9 years old.
This child’s grandmother, 56-year-old Maurina Boyce, told Guyana Times in an interview that she was forced to give up custody of the child following intervention of the Child Care and Protection Agency.
She explained that her son and his wife had lived at Corriverton with their 8-month-old baby, and would visit her every morning for breakfast. However, they did not show up one morning, and that had prompted her to visit their home, two streets away.

“My son and her had one child. I don’t know what was the problem, but she went away and left the child behind. The morning after I see that they did not come — because they would normally come for breakfast — I went over, and noticed that the house was locked up. So, I took down the key, and when I opened the door, I see that the child was lying on the bed sleeping,” she detailed.
She said that from that day onwards, she had been taking care of the little boy, providing for all of his needs and ensuring that he obtained a birth certificate in order for him to attend school.
Boyce related that after eight years, the child’s mother approached her and requested to spend time with her son for a few days, as his other grandmother who was visiting Guyana had wanted to see him.
“I mind him from 8 months to 9 years, and when the $40,000 (school grant) was being paid, his mother came and said his grandmother want to see the child. We did not agree, so we ended up at the Police Station, and they sent us to the Child (Care and) Protection Agency,” Boyce detailed.
“The man at the Child (Care and) Protection Agency told them that they cannot get the child, but they could come and visit until further instructions,” Boyce explained. This decision did not go down well with the mother, Boyce said, “And she went to Georgetown, and so we had to go there with the child. They told us that we have to give the child to the mother, because he has to get to know his siblings…”
Boyce said she was told if she did not want to hand the boy to his biological mother, he would be placed in a foster home. As such, the woman said, she reluctantly handed over her grandson to his mother and stepfather.
However, those arrangements were only to be temporary, and the Child Care and Protection Agency ordered that after the three days, the boy should be returned to his grandmother for the remainder of the school term.
“And the first weekend he went (to his mother), he never come back. The next time we heard about him was when the tragedy occurred and my daughter saw it on the internet and showed me,” the woman cried.
It has been alleged that the boy, now 10, was burnt by his stepfather. The child has sustained extensive third-degree burns covering approximately 30 per cent of his body. He remains hospitalised. Both parents were arrested, but the child’s mother was subsequently released.
On September 18, 42-year-old Zabar Khan, a spray painter of First Street Foulis, East Coast Demerara, was charged with attempted murder of this 10-year-old boy, and also charged with the felonious wounding of a 12-year-old. Khan has been remanded to prison, and will have to return to the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court on October 31.