Justice Navindra Singh overruled the no-case submission made by the defence in the murder trial of Parsram Lalchand and Satesh Singh in the High Court last Friday.
Defence counsel Hukumchand made the no-case application after the prosecution had closed its case. Justice Singh overruled the submission and then asked the accused to lead their defence, which they did through unsworn statements.
Hukumchand also indicated to the court that the defence has two witnesses to present to the court and this will be done today.
Prosecutors Konyo Thompson and Dhanika Singh are leading the state’s case, which is that they along with Vishal, Babzie called ‘Solex,’ and Vishnu Singh murdered Niranjan on July 29, 2008. Babzie is the father of the other Singhs.
Vishal, Vishnu and Babzie were sentenced to 15 years in prison last week after they pleaded guilty to manslaughter, while another co-accused, Akash Singh, was freed after the prosecution withdrew the murder charge against him.
The prosecution had presented Niranjan’s son-in-law, Asraf Khan, as a witness in the trial and he identified the six accused as the men who beat his father in-law during an argument over a bicycle. The men had allegedly stolen Niranjan’s bicycle and Lalchand was later seen with it. Niranjan then confronted him and he told him that he got the bike from Vishal.
Lalchand then took Niranjan, Khan and three other persons to Vishal’s house where an argument ensued. Khan said that Babzie came out of the house with a cutlass and chopped Niranjan while the other men beat him with woods. Niranjan died two days later. The case continues on Monday.
