Four persons, including a 12-year-old girl, were arraigned yesterday for the murder of Nonpareil pensioner Roger Manikam.
The quartet, which also included the daughter of the deceased Nalinie Manikam, 18, her boyfriend Veeram Dias-Lall, 24, and his friend, Devon Brown, 23, was charged in the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court, which is being temporarily housed at the Better Hope Community Centre.
Magistrate Zamilla Ally-Seepaul read the charge to the unrepresented accused, who were not required to plead during the arraignment.
According to the charge, on April 2nd, 2016, the quartet murdered Manikam at his home.
Manikam, 65, of Nonpareil, East Coast Demerara, was discovered on Sunday near a drain, some five corners from his house, along the Coldingen Embankment Road. There was a chop wound to the back of his head.
The proceedings yesterday were held in-camera due to the presence of the juvenile and as a result neither members of the public nor the press were allowed in the courtroom while the charge was read.
While Dias-Lall and Brown stood in the dock, Manikam and the 12-year-old stood outside of it. The juvenile was seen handcuffed to the 18-year-old as she made her way in and out of the courtroom.
As they were being escorted out of the compound, family members of Dias-Lall told him that they were there for him and he should stay strong. Brown, who allegedly helped to dispose the body, sat in the police vehicle with distress written across his face.
The juvenile is to be held at the Juvenile Detention Centre at Sophia, while Nalinie Manikam is to be held at the New Amsterdam Prison and the two men are to be held at the Camp Street prison until their next hearing, which is scheduled for May 6th.
Meanwhile, there was a confrontation between members of the Manikam family. Neighbours also joined in and alleged that the man was killed for money he got from selling his house.
A post-mortem examination revealed that Manikam died as a result of brain haemorrhaging due to blunt trauma to the head.
Upon their arrest, one of the suspects had revealed the plot to kill the pensioner.
A police source said they lured the senior Manikam to the kitchen of his house, where he was bludgeoned with an axe.
He collapsed to the ground and subsequently died. They then cut the polythene clothes line in the yard and tied his body after wrapping it in plastic.
The suspect who transported and dumped the body had told police investigators that he received a call from the other male suspect on Saturday evening and was told that Manikam’s car battery was down and he needed a “jump start.”
As a result he went to the house, where he was told of the murder and then taken to the kitchen, where he saw Manikam’s body on the floor. He also allegedly witnessed the man’s body being wrapped in plastic.
A quantity of bloodied materials, including clothing which was dumped some distance away from Manikam’s body, was retrieved on Tuesday, after the two men in custody accompanied detectives to the site. The materials are currently being analysed for forensic evidence.
