Totaram Lalta of Adelphi Village, East Canje Berbice, who had a history of being abusive to his mother, was yesterday sentenced to 12 years behind bars for the woman’s death.
Back in 2019, Jagranie Ramotar died after Lalta shoved her to the ground, causing her to hit her head.
In May, a jury was empanelled for commencement of the trial for murder against Lalta. He, however, threw himself at the mercy of the Court, pleading guilty to the lesser offence manslaughter.
At his sentencing hearing before Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the High Court in Berbice yesterday, Lalta sought to express how regretful he was for his actions. “I am very sorry,” he lamented.
He said he was intoxicated when he committed the crime.
His attorney, Surihya Sabsook, also tried to express how sorry her client was, stating that his actions were unintentional.
Justice Morris-Ramlall was, however, clear that Lalta’s drunkenness could not be used to excuse his actions, even as she emphasised that his intoxication would have been self-induced.
Meanwhile, in her psychiatric report on the offender, Forensic Psychiatrist, Dr. Meenawattie Rajkumar said that Lalta had had a history of social dysfunction for several years prior to his incarceration.
She said he has been diagnosed with chronic organic brain syndrome-epilepsy and alcohol induced psychosis; though she said that this latter diagnosis is “currently in resolution,” and he is being treated for it, as continuous psychiatric attention has been recommended.
Dr. Rajkumar said that Lalta’s mental illness can be responsible for periods of impulsivity if under the influence of alcohol.
The judge bemoaned the woman senselessly losing her life at the hands of someone to whom she had given life—nurtured, loved and cared for.
The judge told Lalta that in return, he betrayed his mother’s trust and repaid her with ingratitude by being the one responsible for her no longer being here today.
Calling him out for his reckless behaviour towards his mother, Justice Morris-Ramlall said that he had to have pushed his mother to the ground with great force, considering the autopsy report which revealed that she died of blunt force trauma to the head.
In his address to the court calling for a hefty sentence, prosecutor Muntaz Ali said that as a child, Lalta demonstrated a lack of respect and dignity that should be afforded all parents, more so, mothers.
“Unprovoked at the time,” Ali said that the offender “acted recklessly,” towards his mother and had betrayed her trust.
In highlighting the aggravating factors, the prosecutor underscored the history of abuse which he said Ramotar constantly suffered at the hands of her son; even as he stressed her vulnerability at 78 years of age.
Lalta had been previously charged and convicted for the offence of abusive/threatening language towards his mother, and was sentenced to six months imprisonment.
In handing down her sentence, Justice Morris-Ramlall specifically pointed out the domestic setting in which the abuse was meted out to Jagranie Ramotar, noting the steady climb of such violence in society, at all levels.
Having regard to all the attendant aggravating factors presented in the case, the Judge commenced sentence at a base of 18 years. She, however, made deductions for the offender’s early guilty plea and expression of remorse.
In all the circumstances; Lalta was sentenced to 12 years in prison, with the order that further time to be deducted for the period he would have spent on remand awaiting trial.
Background
Lalta had given a written caution statement on October 14th, 2019 while being video-recorded, detailing the events that would ultimately lead to his mother’s demise.
He detailed in that statement, that he had been out the Sunday night drinking with his friend and came home the Monday morning and found his mother in the kitchen.
He said he slapped the woman multiple times and pushed her to the ground causing her to fall and hit her head.
He then noticed blood running from her nose and he went outside.
The woman was eventually transported to New Amsterdam on October 14th and later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital where she was admitted a patient until the November 6th when she was then transferred back to the New Amsterdam Hospital.
On November 10th, Ramotar was discharged and sent home but remained in an unconscious state.
She would eventually die at her home on November 14th.
A post-mortem examination revealed the cause of death as a chronic subdural hematoma caused by blunt trauma to the head.
