Man to spend 7 years for fatally stabbing wife

Mar 30, 2022 News

Jailed, Daveanand Narine

Kaieteur News – Almost three years after the fatal stabbing of 39-year-old Farida Khayum, a mother of six, her husband, 52-year-old Daveanand Narine, a chainsaw operator formerly of Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast, was on Tuesday sentenced to 16 years in prison, but will only spend seven years, two months due to the time that was deducted from his sentence.
The couple had been married for six years before it tragically came to an end on May 16, 2019, after Narine killed Khayum at their Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast home.
Narine was charged with murder, but on February 16, 2022, he opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. He was arraigned in the Suddie High Court before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow. The State was represented by prosecutor Tiffini Lyken.
According to a probation report, read to the court before Narine’s sentencing, the man dropped out of school at age 12 and started to work on a family farm. He later migrated to Venezuela before moving back to Guyana when he met Khayum and they got married.
Narine was described as a hard-working man who would usually consume alcohol and smoke cigarettes.
A report from the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) on Narine’s behaviour stated that the inmate’s performance was given as ‘very good’ and that he translates for the Venezuelan inmates.

Dead, Farida Khayum

A victim impact statement from three of the victim’s son revealed that they missed their mother and that because of her death, they had to move to live with their father in Region Three.
In a plea of mitigation, Narine’s lawyer, Latchmi Dindyal, stated that his client is a first time offender and noted that his client had expressed deep remorse for his action.
In Narine’s address to the court, the man apologised for his action and stated that while being incarcerated he realised that he should have walked away instead of letting his emotions get the best of him.
On the day of the incident, Narine was at a bar imbibing and when he got home, there was another man there which caused a fight between Narine and Khayum.
Three of the victim’s five sons and her ailing mother were at home when the incident occurred.
Around 21:00hrs, Khayum was preparing for a ceremony just minutes prior to her gruesome demise. The woman was combing her hair while Narine was smoking a cigarette outside. There was an argument between the couple before Narine armed himself with a knife and repeatedly stabbed Khayum about her body.
The woman was stabbed some 12 times about the body, primarily in the abdomen and behind the neck. She was pronounced dead at the Suddie Public Hospital.
When the police arrived on the scene, Narine was found on a bed foaming at the mouth, after he ingested a poisonous substance. He was taken to a hospital where he was treated and sent away.
In handing down her sentence, Justice Barlow stated that the court had classified the crime as domestic violence and as such it cannot be condoned although alcohol played a part.
The judge sentenced Narine to 16 years in prison but made a one-third deduction [six years] for his early guilty plea and also deducted the two years and 10 months he spent on remand.