A Rosignol man, who last month opted to plead guilty to fatally stabbing his wife back in November, 2020, was yesterday sentenced to twenty years in prison.
Taijram Rahim, a cane cutter of Marcy Dam, Rosignol Village, West Bank Berbice, was charged in November, 2020, with the murder of his wife, Amrita Rahim, 28.
Rahim, who was represented by attorney at law, Surihya Sabsook, pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter at the High Court in Berbice in January before Justice Navindra Singh.
In two victim impact statements presented to the court yesterday on behalf of the couple’s children, it was noted that they were hopeful that their father would be released as they just wanted to have the family back together.
They said they remembered their mother as someone who took care of them and helped them with their studies and noted that they do not recall the couple fighting.
Rahim yesterday in court begged his three sons for “forgiveness.”
“I beg them for forgiveness, I hurt them a lot, I beg my wife family for forgiveness, I make a big mistake, I beg everybody for forgiveness,” he said as he became tearful.
His attorney said that if there was anyone deserving of a chance of rehabilitation it would be Rahim as according to her at the initial stages of the investigation he provided investigators with a statement while he never attempted to waste the court’s time but pleaded guilty.
She then stressed that he was extremely remorseful for his actions as she asked for the court to be lenient, noting that he was taking anger management classes.
State attorney, Nafeeza Baig, before the sentencing pointed out that the couple’s sons were ages 8, 10, and 11 at the time and witnessed the entire incident.
In sentencing the man, Justice Singh said, it is an unfortunate matter as he pointed out that the children are young and feel grief for their mother’s death and also for their father being in prison.
He said the children will need a lot of counselling to be able to deal with this situation as he opined that he does not believe the children’s plea to have their father back would be necessarily good for them.
He started the sentence at thirty years with ten years being deducted for the early plea and three years since the accused immediately and voluntarily disclosed the offence to law enforcement. Additionally, three years were deducted for the favourable probation report while six years was added for the matter being a domestic violence one.
“It has to be understood that even if immediately after the act, whether fear, grief, remorse for whatever reason he then did everything so to speak that was right to do, meaning immediately tell law enforcement what happened, turned himself in, didn’t challenge the preliminary inquiry, didn’t challenge the indictment or demand a trial, it has to be understood still that in a moment, in a spilt second three children lost their mother, three young children, so there have to be sanctions”, the judge said.
He then sentenced the man to twenty years with the possibility of parole after serving fifteen years.
Rahim, also known as “Sally”, a housewife and the accused, lived together with their three children, at Rosignol Village, West Bank Berbice.
On the evening of November 13, 2020, the couple attended a celebration in the said yard at a relative’s house, where it was reported that they both had some alcoholic beverages.
After returning home, the couple began to argue after the man accused her of cheating on him. During the heated argument, the woman, who was lying on her bed, threatened that she would leave the home if the man continued with the accusations.
Stabroek News was told that the man, while arguing, proceeded to the kitchen and armed himself with a knife, and then went into the bedroom where he stabbed the mother of his children in the area of her left breast, after which he escaped.
The injured woman was rushed to the Fort Wellington Public Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Rahim later turned himself over at the Blairmont Police Station.
A post-mortem examination which was done confirmed that woman died as result of a perforation of the heart.
