Stakeholders urge families to seek help at first signs of domestic violence

RAD­HI­CA DE SIL­VA

The sus­pect­ed mur­der-sui­cide in­volv­ing young Pe­nal cou­ple Ste­fan Khan­dan, 26, and Giselle Ougrah, 23, has sparked re­newed calls for fam­i­lies to act on the warn­ing signs of do­mes­tic vi­o­lence be­fore trou­bled re­la­tion­ships es­ca­late in­to tragedy.

Psy­chi­a­trist Dr Var­ma Deyals­ingh is urg­ing cou­ples trapped in vi­o­lent or tox­ic re­la­tion­ships to seek pro­fes­sion­al help, while call­ing on rel­a­tives and friends to re­port signs of abuse to po­lice, the Na­tion­al Fam­i­ly Ser­vices or the Trinidad and To­ba­go Po­lice Ser­vice’s Vic­tim Sup­port Unit.