Arvin Persaud yesterday told a jury that he saw murder accused Yogeshwar Shivdyal stabbing his brother at a wedding house at La Grange.
Shivdyal is on trial before Justice Roxane George for the murder of Anil Persaud. He is accused of fatally stabbing Persaud, of Bella Dam, Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara, at a wedding house at Independence Street, La Grange, on February 28, 2009. Persaud was hospitalised for his injuries but died some 12 hours later, on March 1, at the Georgetown Hospital.
State prosecutors Rhondel Weever and Natasha Backer presented two other witnesses to the court in addition to Persaud’s brother. Shivdyal was represented by defence counsel Peter Hugh.
Persaud told the court that he was at the wedding house with his brother, who told him he was not drinking because he had to act as father of the bride the next day. He said that he and his brother were sitting under the house when a work man, named “Bobby,” began to dance and Shivdyal started to dance as well.
Persaud told the court that Shivdyal started to wine up on Bobby, who subsequently went and told Anil about what Bobby was doing. Anil then got up from where he was sitting and touched Shivdyal on his shoulder and his mouth was moving, which indicated that he was speaking, but Persaud said he could not hear what was being said because the music was loud.
The man said that his brother then went back to his seat and later got up and walked to a neighbour’s yard at the back of the wedding house. As he did so, Shivdyal followed him and as he turned around Shivdyal choked him with his hand. Persaud told the court “he tek out a knife from his pants waist and juk Anil unda his arm pit two time.”
Earlier in the trial, Shivdyal’s statement to the police was admitted as evidence. The accused told police that he was attacked by some boys at the wedding house and he defended himself by pulling out the knife he had in his pocket and “fire juk to de boys.”
He was also quoted as saying that he felt as though the knife had pierced the boys but he ran outside of the yard after the attack. The trial will continue on Monday.
