Charge against hire car driver upgraded to murder after burnt wife dies  

(Charged: Ganeshwar Sheocharran)

An attempted murder charge has been withdrawn against 27-year-old Ganeshwar Sheocharran and a charge for the capital offence of murder has been instituted after his wife succumbed to burn injuries he allegedly inflicted on her.

On Thursday, Sheocharran appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan who read the indictable charge to him at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. It is alleged that between September 14 and September 18, he murdered Sandrama Raju called ‘Roma’, 29, a mother of one and Lab Technician.

He was remanded to prison until October 14 when he will appear at the Whim Magistrate’s Court.

Last week Friday, Sheocharran was charged with attempted murder after his spouse remained hospitalised in a critical condition.  He was also remanded to prison then. She later died while receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the New Amsterdam Public Hospital.

Reports are that the man set his wife on fire after they were involved in a heated argument on September 14 at their Miss Phobe, Port Mourant, Corentyne, Berbice residence.

After the incident, Sheocharran escaped, causing the Police to issue a wanted bulletin for him. The wanted man later boarded a flight to New York.

                                                                        (Dead: Sandrama Raju)

But local here Police got word of his plans to flee and alerted their counterparts in America.

When he touched down at the JFK Airport in New York, Sheocharran was denied entry by authorities and taken into custody. He was placed on a flight to Guyana where he was promptly arrested by Police upon his arrival.

Sheocharran and Raju had been married for some six years.

Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Georgetown had announced the return of the wanted man.

The Embassy said that it was through cooperation among the regional security offices of both Guyana and Trinidad Tobago, the Guyana Police Force Criminal Investigation Department, U.S. Custom and Border Protection, the U.S. Marshal Service, and Caribbean Airlines.

In praising the operation, US Ambassador Sarah- Ann Lynch expressed, “it is this kind of collaboration that will make our region safe for all Guyanese. Congratulations to all who were involved, as the rule of law is our collective responsibility.”