Soldier charged with manslaughter over river accident

DECEASED: Rayan Kahyum

Almost one year after a 29-year-old member of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) crashed a vessel belonging to the force resulting in the death of a boat operator, he was on Monday charged with manslaughter.

Junior Fairas of Section ‘C’ Grove, East Bank Demerara was arraigned before Magistrate Esther Sam at the Charity Magistrate’s Court.

Fairas was not required to plead to the indictable charge which stated that on April 20,2020 at Martindale, Lower Pomeroon River, he unlawfully killed Rayan Kahyum.

He was released on $300,000 and ordered to report every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at Grove Police Station until the hearing of a Preliminary Inquiry.

The matter was adjourned to February 22, 2021.

According to reports, on the day in question, Kahyum along with two workers were returning home after selling provisions and coconuts on the Essequibo Coast.

At the time the GDF vessel which had no headlights was returning from Charity when it collided with Kahyum’s boat causing him to receive injuries. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

After the incident, the GDF offered $3.4M compensation to Kahyum’s wife but the family refused the sum stating that it was insufficient.