‘My ex-husband used cutlass to chop my leg and fingers’

In her testimony before Justice E. Jaiteh of the Banjul high court, she recounted details of the alleged attack by the accused Yogu Sowe, also called Gorgi Sowe.

“Yogu attacked me with a cutlass in the middle of the night in an isolated place where I lived with my children,  while I was sleeping and chopped my legs and the fingers of my left hand, which has left me relying on wheelchair,” said Amie, who is on a wheelchair while testifying at the court.

It would be recalled that the accused Yogu Sowe is facing five counts of attempted murder, assault causing grievous bodily harm, intentional harm, wounding and domestic violence, to which he pleaded not guilty.

The witness (Amie Sowe) explained the difficulties she experienced in her marriage with the accused, saying she couldn’t   recount all the times she had got beaten up by the accused.

All the problems, she said, started after the accused sold her cows and promised to give her the proceeds, which never happened.

She said she never knew that the issues they had in the marriage would let Yogu inflict such pain on her.

State Counsel Singhateh asked how the witness recognised it was her ex-husband at that time of the night. She said she was able to recognise him   because the light in her bedroom was on, and that the accused was wearing a haftan with a scarf around his neck.

“When he chopped my leg onto my knee I shouted and told him ‘Gorgi why are you trying to kill me?’, that was the time he ran away. He was wearing a haftan which was neither black nor white; it was a turquoise colour.

She further explained that the accused left his second wife and children in bed to attack her, adding that on that night of the incident, she changed her sleeping position and placed her leg where she used to lay her head.

“If he had hit my head instead of my leg, I would have died, and we would have been saying a different thing by now.  I knew it was him as I could recognize him,” she explained. “After he had run away, I called my son and told him to come and see what his father had done to me.”

The son cried and attempted to call for help but she asked him not to leave her alone because his father might come back and cut off her head, she told the court.

The son phoned some of her relatives, Yaya Fandeh and Lamin Kanteh, who came and called the police who took her to the hospital.

The witness further recounted opening her eyes at the hospital being under drip (transfusion), where she was taken for treatment and subsequently underwent operation.

The case was adjourned until 10 June 2024.