Berbice engineer, Neil Madramootoo, was yesterday charged with the attempted murder of his fiancée, Ashmin Mahadeo, and placed on $500,000 bail.
Mahadeo was shot on October 1st and remains hospitalized in a critical condition at the George-town Public Hospital.
Madramootoo, 29, of Lot 13 Shoe Lane, New Amsterdam, appeared before Magistrate Peter Hugh via Zoom yesterday where it was stated that on Sunday October, 1, at Williamsburg, Corentyne, with the intent to commit murder he unlawfully and maliciously wounded Mahadeo.
Police Prosecutor, Vedash Jattan told the court that police have in their receipt a video statement from Mahadeo identifying Madramootoo as her shooter.
However, the prosecutor was questioned about the victim’s condition, whether they had a caution statement and whether the file was complete.
All of the questions he had to check on with persons outside of the court before responding to the Magistrate.
The prosecutor who was pressed on Mahadeo’s condition by the magistrate said that the woman was in critical condition, adding that ranks from the headquarters in Georgetown checked on her yesterday. Her brother who was at the hospital visiting her yesterday said the same.
The prosecutor was also questioned as to whether the victim was able to talk and replied that she was barely talking. One of the lawyers present for Mad-ramootoo then began an exchange with the accus-ed’s mother who was present in court questioning how the police had obtain-ed a statement if the victim was in a critical condition and barely talking.
Madramootoo was not required to enter a plea to the charge and was placed on $500,000 bail with the condition that his passport be lodged. The prosecutor also asked that he report to the New Amsterdam Police Station every Friday and the Magistrate questioned why New Amsterdam with the prosecutor following up with that it was the closest station to the accused’s address.
Madramootoo was represented by attorney Tajnarine Ramroop and will return to the Albion Magistrate’s Court on November, 8.
On the morning of October, 1, Mahadeo, 30, of Lot 25 D Williamsburg, Corentyne, was shot in the back of her neck resulting in the bullet exiting the lower area of her jaw. Since the incident, the woman has remained hospitalized in a critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.
Her relatives had said that doctors informed them that Mahadeo is currently paralyzed.
Madramootoo had been rearrested on Friday, and according to Mahadeo’s relatives, investigators took Madramootoo to the scene of the incident on Saturday.
Police in Berbice had initially held Mahadeo’s fiancé for questioning following the incident, however he was eventually released on $300,000 bail after being held for 72 hours.
The incident occurred on Sunday, October, 1st around 7:40 a.m., and according to information gathered, Mahadeo and her fiancé, who have been together for the last seven years were packing things in a vehicle that the fiancé was using as they had a bridal shower planned for the day.
The woman’s brother, Naresh Mahadeo, 32, who resides overseas but was visiting for the event, said that they were asleep in the house when they heard a loud explosion.
“When I came out my bed and I come by the door I see my sister lay down by the gate and blood coming through her mouth and I rushed and go out and my wife turn her over and I run out on the street and when I asked he (the fiancé) he said somebody shot her and he go in the house”, the brother said.
Mahadeo’s wife, an overseas-based nurse, began doing Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation on the injured woman. According to the brother, after he did not see anyone on the street he also returned to offer assistance to his sister.
The relatives had confirmed that investigators found a firearm in Mahadeo’s room in the ceiling.
A police source had confirmed that both Mahadeo’s and her fiancé’s phones were located in a haversack allegedly belonging to the fiancé and are in the police’s possession. The relatives had said, that Madramootoo had denied knowing where Mahadeo’s phone was shortly after the incident and had suggested that the person who might have shot her had stolen the phone.
Mahadeo’s brother on Saturday said that his sister had started talking for a bit and was able to provide police with a statement from her hospital bed where she said that only she and her fiancé were present at the location at the time of the incident.
The brother relayed that doctors were hoping to transfer Mahadeo to the recovery unit last week but were not able to do so as the young woman still cannot breathe on her own and becomes unconscious after talking for some time.
The emotional brother had also said that his sister during a recent visit told him that she was tired of the pain she was experiencing and wanted to “give up.” However, he said, he pleaded with her to continue fighting to make a recovery.
