Rhondall Feeles, President of the Fathers Association in Trinidad and Tobago, has announced the death of Anson Mohammed, the 44-year-old Rio Claro father whose story about facing committal warrants for unpaid child maintenance drew widespread attention last year.
Mohammed, in an account shared by the Fathers Association, said he had been diagnosed with renal failure and heart failure, was 90 percent disabled and had been told by doctors he could not work. He said he received a disability grant and public assistance, but two committal warrants were out against him for unpaid child maintenance. He said a female magistrate told him she did not want to hear about his illness when he tried to explain, and that he raised his shirt to show his catheter. He also said he had applied to discharge the maintenance, but the other party never showed in court over a year and a half.
Feeles, in a video posted to Facebook, said Mohammed has passed and called for legislative change so that maintenance orders and warrants automatically cease when a non-custodial parent is placed on a disability grant. He said such relief should be triggered by law, not depend on public advocacy or a parent having to display his medical condition in court. Feeles also criticised the absence of a Male Health Care Framework, which he said contributes to the loss of young men to disease.
In the video, Feeles thanked the lawyers who intervened and the people on TikTok and Facebook who showed support. He said the child’s mother eventually reached out to say she wanted to make things right, and that pictures showed Mohammed and his son together before his death. He described that reunion as one of Mohammed’s greatest wishes.
Mohammed’s own account, shared by the Association, described the toll of his illness and the warrants. He said he felt like a loser because he could no longer provide for his family, and that between bills and groceries the household could not cover both. His plea, as he put it, was simple: he wanted someone to listen and to put something in place to make it easier for people in his situation.
Article and image source: facebook.com
