Husband, lover remanded for murder of Soesdyke woman

Feb 16, 2022 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

Kaieteur News – The husband and the lover of Soesdyke resident, Edith Reuben who was found dead last week hanging from a mango tree were on Tuesday remanded to prison on a charge of murder when they appeared at the Diamond Magistrate’s Court.

Remanded, Dianand Lakhan

Remanded, Aubrey Williams

Forty-one-year-old Dianand Lakhan, a labourer of Lot 1286 Yarrowkabra, Soesdyke-Linden Highway, the husband and Aubrey Williams, 36, a labourer of Yarrowkabra Squatting Area, the lover, were jointly charged for murder.
The duo appeared before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman. They were not required to plead to the indictable charge, which alleges that on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, at Yarrowkabra, Soesdyke-Linden Highway, they murdered 48-year-old Reuben.
Kaieteur News reported that an alleged decision Reuben made to cuddle with her lover while her husband was asleep led to her being strangled to death by both of them. It was reported that detectives were able to learn of this after both men allegedly confessed to the crime on Saturday last.
After reading the charge to the defendants, Magistrate Latchman remanded them to prison and the matter was adjourned to March 3, 2022.
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) in an initial statement reported that on the day in question the woman was reportedly found dead around 06:30hrs hanging from a mango tree in her yard, with her feet touching the ground. Lakhan had initially denied having anything to do with his wife’s death and had told the police that he had found her dead after waking up from a hangover.
Although it appeared as though Reuben had committed suicide, investigators from the inception suspected that she was murdered. Crime scene experts had pointed to the fact that her feet were still touching the ground and explained that while not impossible, it is extremely difficult for someone to die from hanging if their feet are still on the ground.
An autopsy later conducted on her remains revealed that she was strangled and this was compounded by blunt trauma to the head. The results from the autopsy only added to the detectives’ suspicions that someone had murdered the woman.