KAKATA — An enraged 36-year-old boyfriend who thought his partner was cheating on him has been arrested and being probed by the Crime Services Division (CSD) of the Liberia National Police in Kakata, Margibi County for allegedly setting his girlfriend’s family house ablaze in a jealous rage.
Report by Yawah Y. Jaivey, Contributing Writer
Witnesses on the scene told police investigators that suspect Samuel E. Dakersy broke into his girlfriend’s family residence in Sugar Hill Community in Kakata, Margibi County, early Monday, December 26, and poured gasoline on his girlfriend’s room floor and set the house on flames. He had threatened to harm occupants that attended quelling his horrendous action.
Isaac Z. Dean, owner of the burned house and uncle to the suspect’s fiancée, reported to the Crime Services Division (CSD) of the Liberia National Police in Margibi County, that he received a call from his daughter informing him that suspect Samuel E. Dakersy, who is a boyfriend to his niece, has set his house ablaze.
“When I rushed home, my son Joshua Dean explained that he had gone into the house to serve a customer who come to buy cold water when he saw suspect Dakersy pouring gasoline at Marion’s room and other parts of the house and lighted match to the gasoline”, Dean quoted his son’s accounts.
Dean added: “My son said he along with one Abraham tried extinguishing the fire from the onset of the accident, but suspect Dakersy vehemently resisted and threatened to damage anyone that could try to stop the fire. He said that is how the fire escalated to the rooftop of the building and burning the house and belongings of occupants to ashes.”
More than 25 occupants were made homeless as the result of the fire disaster.
Accused Dakersy denies allegation
Defendant Samuel E. Dakersy from behind the police holding cells denied the allegation against him, terming it as ‘false and misleading’.
He explained that he was at his work site on the evening hours of December 25, when his girlfriend (name withheld) went there and informed him that she was going to the market to purchase food for Christmas celebrations for the next day (December 26).
Dakersy said his girlfriend later left and went to the market. A few minutes later, he placed calls to her twice to inquire whether she had returned home, but twice she sent him text messages in which she said she was in the market the first, and in the second she informed him to stop calling because she didn’t want her phone getting stolen.
According to him, he discontinued calling and then decided to go in search of her in the Kakata Vai Town Market where he knew she went. After all the search in the market where he did not see her, he then decided to go around the Kakata Police Station in search of her.
Suspect Dakersy narrated that when he got in front of the police station, he saw his girlfriend disembarking a motorbike. Right there, he jumped on her to beat her. But, Deputy Police Commander Ibrahim Gborie and other officers pleaded with him to disengage. With their advice he said he let go of her and went to her selling spot opposite the Total Gas Station in Kakata where he sat and awaited her. Upon getting there, he said his girlfriend packed her goods and took them to the house. A few minutes later she allegedly walked on the road and bought spaghetti which she returned home and ate. Thereafter, he said she decided to come on the road to buy tea to drink, at which time she invited him to walk with her, a request he turned down.
“My girlfriend then left with a friend of mine named Fred; after a couple of minutes, I called my girlfriend to bring the room door keys so that I could go to bed because I was feeling sleepy. But, she told me she was not coming anywhere. Rather, I should go and sleep with one Moses. After waiting a couple of minutes, I walked to a local entertainment center where I was and kept ringing her phone number which was switched off”, he explained.
He said after several times of trying, he finally got his girlfriend on the phone. However, at this point, it was when she asked him for his location and informed him that her family house was on fire and he is being accused of setting the house ablaze. He said it was on that note he reported himself to the police around 0200 hours GMT on account of being innocent.