Dwarka, a local grass track racer, who had been accused of killing his wife in May, 2010, was released last Tuesday.
In a press release issued yesterday following a report by Stabroek News on the case, the DPP explained that the only evidence which the prosecution had that could have established the murder charge was that of Dr. Hubert Daisley, a Trinidad-based pathologist.
It was noted that Dr. Daisley prepared a post-mortem examination report but it did not purport to have been signed by a registered medical practitioner. The release noted that Section 43 of the Evidence Act requires that a post-mortem report must be signed by a duly registered medical practitioner for it to be admissible in evidence.
Dr. Daisley attended court, tendered the post-mortem report and commenced his evidence-in-chief. However, he did not complete his testimony.
The DPP said that upon receipt of the depositions and having found that the evidence by Dr. Daisley had “no evidential value and further that the cross examination of Dr. Daisley had not commenced, I directed the Magistrate to re-open the Preliminary Inquiry (PI) for the sole purpose of Dr. Daisley to complete his evidence-in-chief and cross examination.”
The magistrate did re-open the PI but the pathologist never appeared to complete his testimony, the release said, adding that there was therefore insufficient evidence for an indictment.
On May 2, 2010, Bridgette’s mangled remains were discovered on the Vigilance Public Road, a short distance from the entrance of the police station. Her body had suspected marks of violence and the police initially said they were treating the woman’s death as a murder.
Relatives had reported that Bridgette, 29, and her husband, then 34, had left their Lusignan home the night before and travelled to Enterprise, where they were expected to go shrimp-catching with some friends. However, the trip was aborted and the couple left and it was believed that they were heading home. About an hour later, the husband returned to the Enterprise home without his wife and when questioned about her he did not answer. The police were contacted and he was arrested.
Gangadin had reportedly told investigators that his wife jumped out of the truck and he accidentally ran over her head. Government pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh subsequently concluded that it was crushing injuries to the head caused by a wheel and a fractured skull that had caused her death.
However, the woman’s relatives were not satisfied with the results and hired Dr. Daisley to do a second autopsy. The report that he submitted to the police said, among other things, that the woman had been strangled.
Following a PI at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court, Dwarka was committed to stand trial by Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus. The man’s relatives were dissatisfied with the outcome of the case and subsequently hired attorney-at-law Glenn Hanoman to approach the DPP on the issue.
Hanoman did so and the case was re-opened. It was again heard by Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus, who committed Dwarka a second time. It was shortly after this that he was released from prison.
The woman’s relatives expressed shock at his release.
