More than six month after skeletal remains were unearthed at the Campbellville residence of Babita Sarjou’s estranged husband, DNA tests have confirmed that they are indeed hers.
Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum yesterday told Stabroek News that the Guyana Police Force received the results from the DNA tests, which confirmed that the remains were indeed those of Sarjou, who was missing and presumed dead.
The remains are expected to be handed over to Sarjou’s family soon. On the eve of Diwali, in November of 2010, the then 28-year-old Sarjou had left her Timehri home to view the annual motorcade with her estranged husband, Anand Narine, and four-year-old son.
She had promised she would be back home at around 9 that night but relatives never saw or heard from her again.
The Caribbean American Domestic Violence Awareness group’s involvement and Sarjou’s mother’s unwavering quest to get to the bottom of what happened to her daughter, saw police revive the cold case earlier this year.
The skeletal remains were subsequently unearthed at Narine’s residence in Campbellville, Georgetown on May 22. Sarjou’s relatives later positively identified a pair of slippers, Indian attire and underwear that were found with the remains as her belongings and samples were taken for DNA testing.
Narine, and another man, Darrol Compton, called ‘Yankee,’ have since been charged with her murder.
Narine had allegedly paid his accomplice $50,000 and promised him a trip to Trinidad to kill Sarjou. They allegedly dug the three-ft. grave two days before she was killed.
Narine had faced intense scrutiny over her disappearance as there was a history of domestic violence in the relationship, which was evidenced by several reports made at the Kitty Police Station and the Timehri Police Station.
He was previously charged with harassment for allegedly exposing pictures of a half-naked Sarjou to the public.
The photographs had been displayed around her place of employment on August 31, 2010. He was freed of this charge a year later after Sarjou, who was the main witness, had disappeared.
Last Friday, in observation of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, CADVA unveiled a sculpted doll in the image of Sarjou.
