Woman Lives in Fear After Attacker Freed

A woman who lost her left arm in a violent domestic dispute last August says she now lives in fear after learning her attacker has been released from the Belize Central Prison.

Thirty‑seven‑year‑old Ilsida Navas was seriously injured when her partner attacked her with a machete while she slept in the early hours of the morning. “I mih get sleepy and I went down to sleep and like three in the morning he attacked me with the machete.” she told News Five. 

She sustained severe chop wounds to her arms and legs, stab injuries to her chest, and ultimately the loss of her left arm.

Navas, who is raising four children on her own, says the trauma has left her struggling to provide for her family. “Sometimes I am feeling sad because I have my four kids. The father of my four kids went to the States six years ago, and he is not responsible for my kids,” she said.

Since the attack, Navas has been adjusting to life as an amputee. She has been in contact with a doctor in El Salvador who can provide her with a prosthetic arm at a cost of $3,800 U.S. dollars, and she is appealing to the public for assistance in raising the funds.

“The surprise that I get right now is that the man is already out… He’s walking. I don’t know why,” Navas said, expressing her shock at news of her attacker’s release.