The reputed husband of Hansranie Sewdat, who was arrested hours after her body was found on Friday last with the throat slit, remains in police custody as preparations are being made for a post-mortem examination today.
Police officials told this newspaper yesterday afternoon that the man, a popular Berbice rice farmer said to be in his 70s, remained in police custody.
Sewdat, a 39-year-old housewife, was found dead on the floor of her Number 48 Village home last Friday. In addition to the wound, there was what appeared to be a pair of women’s tights wrapped around her neck.
Relatives said it was suspicious that there was hardly any blood on the walls or near the body. They said that based on the scene, the motive was to kill as there were no signs of force entry or that the place was ransacked.
Based on the accounts given to this newspaper, the man who was arrested could not give a proper account for his whereabouts for several hours on the day of the murder.
The man had left his nine-year-old daughter with workers at his rice field located at Number 46 Village. He returned about three hours later with food and drink for the child. He then left with the child for his rice fields at Black Bush Polder.
It was when they returned home that the child made the startling discovery.
This newspaper was told that the couple was having domestic problems for the last four years and that Sewdat had been contemplating leaving the man with whom she had been living for 13 years. Investigations are continuing.
