Justice Brassington Reynolds handed down a 15-year sentence to a man who confessed to two counts of wounding and manslaughter, at a recent sitting of the Berbice Assizes.
State Prosecutor Fabayo Azore told the court that on May 18, 2004, Dhaneshwar `Bisham’ Ramkirt pounced on a sleeping Puran Shiwcharran in his bedroom, dragged him off his bed and fatally stabbed him. He also stabbed the man’s wife Kamala Nandan, when she attempted to intervene.
The court heard that Ramkirt dragged Shiwcharran down a stairway and he had been overheard pleading, “Bisham, don’t kill me, don’t kill me, I did not collect the hog money.” Shiwcharran was stabbed three times in the chest.
An autopsy performed by government Pathologist Dr V Brijmohan revealed that he died of multiple stab wounds along with shock and haemorrhage.
In a deposition, Nandan said that whilst asleep with her husband, she awoke and saw Ramkirt whom she had known for over ten years, in her bedroom. He then choked her and threatened to kill her if the “hog money” was not handed over. The woman said Ramkirt then stabbed her in her upper left arm before leaving the room with her husband.
Prior to imposing the sentence, Justice Reynolds said he believed that Ramkirt is a victim of his environment. The judge said several deficiencies in the social infrastructure contributed to this. However, in his address to the prisoner the judge said “a man’s home is his castle. To defile the sanctity of his home is not an act to be treated lightly. We must be allowed to rest our heads, knowing that the sanctity will be respected.” He also told him that being a victim of an inadequate social environment in the formative years is no reason why he should not be placed in a controlled environment to reflect on his wrongdoings.
Justice Reynolds also said he had considered that Ramkirt had been imprisoned for four and a half years. The sentence comprises ten years for murder and five years for the wounding indictment. It is set to run concurrently.