‘I Don’t Want to Live in Fear’: Elicia Gobin Pleads for Protection After Arson Attacks, Threats of Facial Disfigurement, and Police Inaction

By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News |

WEST BANK DEMERARA — A distressed single mother of a two-year-old child, Elicia Gobin, is desperately pleading for urgent intervention and protection from state authorities, revealing that a protracted domestic and co-parenting ordeal has escalated into death threats, vows of facial disfigurement, and repeated arson attacks against her home and family vehicles.

Gobin disclosed that her partnership and co-parenting arrangement with her former partner, identified as Ruchinath Rubio, has deteriorated into continuous verbal, physical, and psychological abuse.

Her plea follows a devastating arson attack on October 4, 2026, which gutted her property in Schoonord, West Bank Demerara. Gobin alleges that Rubio orchestrated the blaze as part of a campaign of intimidation designed to force her to surrender custody of their toddler.

Escalating Violence, Restraining Orders, and Custody Battles

According to Gobin, what began as a relationship after Rubio claimed he had separated from his wife turned into a dangerous cycle of violence and coercion:

• Pattern of Abuse: While she endured repeated verbal assaults, physical attacks occurred on multiple occasions, compelling her to seek and secure an official restraining order through the magistrate’s court.
• Child Withholding & Custody Disputes: Gobin stated that Rubio routinely used their child as emotional leverage, threatening to take the infant permanently following arguments. During contested custody filings before the court, she alleges Rubio took and withheld the baby from her for over a month.
• Institutional Frustration: Attempts to secure assistance from the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) proved frustrating and ineffective, leaving her with little recourse to regain physical custody of her child.

“We did have about two or three times we encounter physical abuse, but mostly it’s verbally all the time. I even got a restraining order,” Gobin explained.

“He pursued to start a relationship with me and we share a baby together. Though he would usually take my baby away from me… and I would try to get help to get my baby. He would take my baby for a long period of time and refused to give me my baby… Eventually, I took it to the court. I filed for custody. He also filed for custody. But during the time that we filed for custody, he had taken my baby away from me for about a month, a little over a month.”

Pattern of Arson: Minibus and Vehicles Torched in August 2025

The destruction of Gobin’s Schoonord home on October 4 follows a series of arson attacks targeting her immediate family dating back to August 2025:

• Double Vehicle Arson: In August 2025, a passenger minibus belonging to Gobin’s brother-in-law was set ablaze and destroyed at La Grange, West Bank Demerara. Later that night, after Gobin and her sister returned from inspecting the scorched wreckage, the private motor vehicle they had traveled in was also torched directly outside their home.
• Targeting Personal Assets: Gobin recounted that in addition to setting fire to a property in the Plantation area and burning down her Schoonord residence, Rubio systematically smashed and destroyed every mobile phone she purchased, deliberately cutting off her communication and leaving her isolated and vulnerable.

Systemic Police Inaction and Futile Inquiries

Despite lodging repeated reports across multiple stations within Regional Police Division #3—specifically at the La Grange Police Station and the Vreed-en-Hoop / Ruimveldt corridors—Gobin expressed despair that law enforcement has failed to take decisive action or offer physical protection:

• Living Under Direct Threat: Gobin stated that Rubio has repeatedly threatened to permanently disfigure her face with acid or weapons, vowing to make her life unbearable.
• Efforts for Official Updates Stalled: Broadcast investigative inquiries directed to the Guyana Police Force to determine the status of the arson investigations and outstanding arrest warrants yielded no response.

“I am very fearful for my life because he would usually say that he would disfigure my face… and he has done a lot to me and I think I need this to come to an end now,” Gobin pleaded. “I want him to just leave me alone. I don’t want to be living in fear and I hope that I get some help from this situation.”

Gobin is urging the Ministry of Home Affairs, senior police commanders, and human rights defenders to intervene before the escalating threats turn fatal.