Hairdresser and makeup artist, Miguel Ram and former Miss India Guyana contestant Sharona Katriah have denied being involved in a reported theft from a West Coast Demerara (WCD) wedding house on August 1.
Ram, Katriah and Katriah’s taxi driver who were in attendance at the wedding house at La Union, (WCD) on the day in question were suspected of theft after the complainants said that valuables were missing. The items reported to have been stolen are: 2 A52 cellphones valued $260,000, 1 S8 cellphone value unknown, 1 G Shock watch valued $70,000, 1 gold chain valued $50,000, 1 silver chain valued $15,000, 1 Apple watch valued $95,000, 1 Samsung S9 cellphone valued $180,000, 1 Samsung S8 cellphone valued $180,000, 600 Barbadian dollars, and US$275.
According to Ram they were put in the lockups from 10:30 pm on August 1 and remained there until 5 pm on August 3.
The hairdresser said that earlier this year the bride contacted him and booked him to do her hair for the day of her wedding. Ram said he arrived at the bride’s residence minutes to 8 on the morning of August 1 and was escorted into the house by the bride’s brother where the bride was waiting in an upstairs bedroom. He recalled that when he entered the room, the bride, her mother, and three other women were there along with their makeup artist who was fixing the face of the bride’s sister.
Ram said that while the bride had gone downstairs for the first part of the ceremony, he remained in the room styling the bride’s mother’s hair. Ram said he had initially turned up to do the bride’s hair but was asked to style the mother’s and the sister’s hair as well as the hair of an aunt and another woman. It was while in the middle of doing the mother’s hair that Katriah called him informing him that she had just arrived at the bride’s home and needed a quick makeup fix and hairstyle which Ram said he agreed to do. He noted that while he did Katriah’s makeup and hair, there were others in the room assisting the bride in getting ready.
He added that all the while he was there, there were people coming in and out of the house. He further said that there were approximately 200 persons in attendance at the bride’s side of the wedding. Ram pointed out that while the police report stated that the missing items were in different rooms, he said he was only in one room of the house and said also that when the bride was leaving the upstairs with other relatives and friends to head to the groom’s residence, he was there walking out with them. However, he noted that instead of taking the outside steps which was specially designed for the bride’s descent to the ceremony, he made his way out of the house using the inside steps which he was first escorted up by the bride’s brother.
Makeup bag
Ram recalled putting his makeup bag in the taxi driver’s car while the bride was still at her residence having her photos taken. He then went back into the yard where he, Katriah, the taxi driver and another friend settled down to have their fill of the wedding house’s food. The hairdresser said they concluded eating at the same time the bride had finished having her photos taken and left for the groom’s residence at the same time she did.
He said when they arrived at the groom’s residence, it was too crowded and the place was muddy. As such they decided to return to the bride’s residence where they could have gotten seats.
“When we went back to the bride side, they gave us a table. When we came back the second time, it had like thirty something people. We were there for almost two hours and they brought more things for us. While we were there, the bride brother and another family member come and ask if we see anybody strange upstairs when I was upstairs fixing their hair and I tell he I can’t know anybody who is strange because I don’t know anybody there, I don’t know his family, I don’t know who is who. I asked him why and he said somebody went upstairs inside of the house and ransack all the rooms and stole jewellery, money and phone. When he told me that, I was shocked. The brother went same time and told the taxi driver who is his friend (and) who ask him who he think would do something like that and the brother said they suspect some family and they would deal with it. They took off the wedding house music and people started leaving…” said Ram.
He added that since the day of the wedding was also his birthday he had made plans with two female friends to hang out that night. His friends he said arrived about half an hour later and spent some time with him at the wedding house before they headed to XS Bar. Katriah he said also left with the taxi driver and headed to Infinity Bar. Ram said he left his makeup bag in the car of the taxi driver instead of collecting it as the driver had offered to drop him home after he was done hanging out with his friends.
Just as they were arriving at the bar, Ram said another member of the bride’s family called him about the theft and asked for him to return to the bride’s residence. He said that he told them he was willing to come but the friends he was with wouldn’t want to bring him back to the residence. As such, they arrived at an agreement that the bride’s family would send a car for him.
The hairdresser said that prior to the arrival of the bride’s family, Katriah messaged him telling him that the family was looking to get the police involved and that he should join her and the taxi driver so that the next time the family of the bride called, the taxi driver could tell the family that Ram was with them. His reply to her was that he was with his friends and that the family could check his things if they wanted. Sometime after, the family of the bride arrived at the bar and was calling him on his phone. Ram said by this time he was inside but apparently their calls weren’t going through as according to him, there is always a network signal issue for patrons on the inside of XS Bar. He noted he received another message from Katriah about twenty minutes later informing him that the family were outside waiting on him to which he replied “Ok”. She further messaged him asking him to keep her updated of what was happening and to let her know when he was in the car with them. Katriah also told Ram to check his bag. It was a picture of these messages that was shared by another media entity. He noted that at that point Katriah was beginning to wonder whether he had been set up when she told him to check his bag. Ram said that though the screenshot didn’t show where he reminded her that his bag was with them, he did send her a message telling her about his bag being with them. He said he thought to himself then that someone trying to set him up wasn’t possible as he had never put down his bag and left it at any time and that his bag was always with him until he put it into the car of the taxi driver.
Ram said when he arrived at the bride’s residence many of her relatives were already there awaiting him. He noted that once he was inside of the house, they locked the doors with him inside and began questioning him. He said the relatives began accusing him of stealing and went on to say that they had footage of him taking the items. The man said he asked them why they were accusing him and further said to them that if they were so certain of this, why didn’t they raise an alarm at the time of the incident or called the police. Ram said at the point he began asking them to call the police. “The guy, an uncle started to curse and attempted to knock me four times but the persons there hold him back. I sit down very quietly and all I tell them to do is ‘please call the police’” said Ram.
He went on to say by that time, the family began suspecting Katriah as she was with him and asked him to call her. Ram said he called Katriah and told her that the family was accusing her also and asked her to return to the house which she did. Ram said that when Katriah arrived, the family also claimed that they had footage of her being involved in the act and as such she asked them to show her the alleged footage. “…in the middle of the commotion, a woman come up to me and say she know is me and tell me I must find back the stuff… Then they say ‘ya’ll is thief’. I said to her, ‘You don’t know me and I have a good reputation in this country and Google me or find out about me and you will know who is me. I have never had an incident like this and I will never have it either. I keep insisting that they call the police but they keep asking me questions and I decided to call a good friend I know who might help and when I open the phone to make the call, they snatch the phone from me, went into my WhatsApp and take a picture of me and Sharona messages…”
At this point, he said that the family engaged in a ritual where a woman appeared to be demon-possessed in a bid to identify who had stolen the items. Ram said following the ritual, the family finally called the police who arrived about twenty minutes later. The police he said took everybody’s statements and lodged their phones. “I was so shock cause I was trying to understand how I ended up in a police station…” said the hairdresser.
He noted that his bail was set at $100,000 and afterwards reduced to $25,000 while Katriah’s and the taxi driver’s bail was $20,000 each.
Ram pointed out that over the years he’s worked with various local pageants, Guyanese artistes, models and a number of prominent Guyanese and has never before found himself in such an incident. Ram said since the incident, many of his clients and friends have come forward in support of him.
Katriah who is also an accounts clerk spoke with this newspaper and also shared the same information and noted that upon their return to the bride’s residence the second time after realizing the groom’s residence was too crowded and learning of the incident, she recalls giving a relative her number as well as Ram’s number telling him he could call for whatever information was needed and she would try to help however she could.
“In sending the message that they took a picture of, I was only being a concerned friend and telling him [Ram] to come with me at Infinity,” she said of the broadcast picture of their message. “I must say I am grateful for the many comments under our post because everybody knew me and Miguel’s character. We were never in anything like that. I would like to assure everyone that the claims were false… I am still Sharona and I will continue to be the same person of good character that I am,” Katriah said.
Ram also pointed out that he had asked the police to check his bag to confirm that he had none of the valuables in his possession but as far as he knows, the police never did. He also said that while they were in the lockups, the car was lodged at the Vreed-en-Hoop Police Station with his makeup bag in it which he was not able to retrieve until the evening of August 3 when he was released from the lockups.
Currently the police are seeking advice on the way forward.
