The Guyanese scholarship student, who allegedly murdered a man and slit a woman’s throat in Cuba, remains in police custody and the authorities here are paying keen attention to the case.
The student, Shurlon Austin, of Pattensen, South Sophia, left Guyana in 2006 at the age of 24 and was scheduled to complete the Cuba-leg of his studies over the next few months. Thereafter, he would have returned to Guyana to complete his final year of studies before graduation.
“We are looking at what they’ve been doing and what is going on and when he will go to court. In the meantime, we areallowing the process to take its course,” Public Service Minister Jennifer Westford yesterday told Stabroek News.
Minister Westford also cleared the air about the condition of the female victim, who was wounded during the incident, stating that she is alive. “I would not be able to say whether or not she is in the hospital but I know she is not dead,” the Minister pointed out.
Meanwhile, a source told this newspaper that students have not seen the woman at the hospital for some two weeks now.
Reports are that Austin allegedly committed the acts during an argument over the price of a watch. Sources had said that he went to a shop in Havana to buy a watch and while there he reportedly got into an argument with the owner of the store which saw the man’s wife intervening. A source said Austin stabbed the man at least 11 times before turning his knife on the woman.
