A miner was yesterday remanded to prison after being charged with the murder of missing cook Petal Hafeez, whose suspected remains were discovered two weeks ago at Thomas Island, Puruni River.
James Allen, 30, was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in Georgetown, where he was read a charge which stated that between June 28th and July 8th, 2018, at Thomas Island, Puruni River, he murdered Hafeez.
Allen was not required to enter a plea to the indictable charge.
Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan subsequently remanded the accused to prison and adjourned the matter until August 16th, when it will be called at the Bartica Magistrates’ Court.
Hafeez, a mother of five, worked as a cook at a mining camp. Skeletal remains, suspected to hers, were discovered on July 10th, 2018.
Days after the discovery, Hafeez’s relatives came forward and informed the police that they suspected the remains were hers since they had not heard from Hafeez for a while. It is suspected that the remains were there for several weeks based on the state of decomposition, a source had said.
Her daughter, Rihanna, has said that clothing which was discovered at a camp belonged to Hafeez. “Everything was hers. It had a flower top, brassiere, it had another pink top, jeans. Everything was hers,” she said.
Police have said DNA testing is to be conducted to confirm whether the remains are indeed those of Hafeez.
