Berbice tops list as 10 murders recorded for New Year

Jan 18, 2016 News

At least 10 murders have been recorded within the past eighteen days with Berbice ‘B’ Division taking the lead with six. ‘C’ Division (East Coast Demerara) secured three while ‘D’ Division (West Demerara/East Bank Essequibo) had one.
Figures compiled by this publication show that a total of 10 murders occurred between January 1 and yesterday. The victims were stabbed to death, shot, chopped or burnt.
The most recent killing occurred yesterday, at Williamsburg, Corentyne. During an argument between three men, the police said that Surendra Nauth, 25, Corentyne Berbice was stabbed to the abdomen and subsequently died at the New Amsterdam Hospital.
On January 3, 49-year-old Anita Baichan was bound, gagged and left to die in her burning house at Plantation Hope, WCB.
According to reports, two men armed with cutlasses entered the home and held up Baichan and her son Moshim Khan, 28 years, and demanded cash and jewellery.
The perpetrators were given $30,000 but kept demanding more valuables.
Having not received anything further from the victims, the men duct taped the hands, feet and mouths of the victims and set the house on fire before escaping.
On January 10, the usually tranquil county of Berbice was rocked with the double murders of a Bush Lot, West Coast Berbice (WCB) couple.
Eighty one year-old Doodnauth Rajkumar and his 41 year-old wife Dianne Chammanlall were terrorized and repeatedly chopped, after drug crazed young robbers broke into their Lot 93 ‘A’ Bush Lot, Middle Dam, WCB property.
Mr. Rajkumar was found dead in the hallway with his throat slashed and right arm partially severed. His wife, who was badly injured, was found lying in the verandah of their home. She succumbed while receiving treatment at the Fort Wellington Hospital.

Dianne Chammanlall

Doodnauth Rajkumar

Anita Baichan

Three men have been charged with these gruesome murders. Gocoul Madanpaul, 18, called ‘Clown’, of Bath Settlement, WCB and former murder accused, Rooplall Abrahim , 24, of Murphy Dam, Rosignol, West Bank Berbice appeared last Wednesday before Magistrate Rhondell Weever, in the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court and were remanded to prison for the murder of Baichan.
The two men along with Nazamadeen Raffick, 18, have also been charged with killing the Bush Lot couple.
Pattrick Mohabir, a Corentyne businessman died after he was shot and robbed by bandits who invaded his home and held him up along with his wife. The incident occurred around midday on January 6.
Also on January 10, the partially decomposed body of 28 year-old Hafeeza Rohoman was found in a trench at Mahaica. It was reported that the woman was a constant victim of domestic violence. A post mortem revealed that the woman died of drowning, but there was evidence to support that she received blows to the head.
The police are treating this case as murder.
New Year’s Day began with four murders. The first was that of 24 year-old Asif Hafeez who was stabbed to death during a confrontation with another man, ten minutes into the New Year. The police had stated that Hafeez of Lot 72 Grant 1780 Crabwood Creek, Corentyne, Berbice was imbibing alcohol with another man when an argument ensued.
It was reported that the victim was stabbed to the neck and succumbed to his injuries at the Skeldon Hospital.
The suspect is still on the run.

CHARGED: Gocoul Madanpaul and Rooplall Abrahim

Dewaun Baksh

Around 2:15pm, a Mon Repos carpenter was fatally stabbed by his cousin. Dead is Ganesh Ramlakhan, 34, of Lot 27 Mon Repos Pasture, East Coast Demerara (ECD). It was reported that the father of two was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) with stab wounds about his body. He was pronounced dead on arrival.
A Cane Grove Sawaya, ECD family was plunged into a state of shock, after they got news that their loved one was robbed, brutally beaten and left to die on the road by a group of men.
Twenty two-year-old Deokumar Basdeo was left lying on the road way in Cane Grove after he was attacked by the men. According to reports, Basdeo, a father of one, sustained injuries about his body but mostly to the head.
He later succumbed at the GPHC.
Meanwhile, over at Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) a twenty two year-old man was stabbed to death after returning home from Barbados to spend Christmas.
Dewaun Baksh sustained stab wounds to his neck and shoulder during an altercation with a group of men at a rum shop. He was pronounced dead at the Leonora Cottage Hospital.