Three to face retrial for murder of Ruby Fisherman

After close to three hours of deliberations and further directions, a 12-member jury was unable to arrive at a verdict in relation to three persons who are accused of the February 14, 2017 murder of Ruby, East Bank Essequibo fisherman, Shereffudeen Nazamudeen.

Mandy Sukhdeo; her father, Surendra Sukhdeo; and their neighbour Rean Ghani were on trial for the murder before Justice Navindra Singh at the High Court in Demerara. They had pleaded not guilty to the charge. Following closing addresses, Justice Singh summed up the evidence to the jury who retired to deliberate on a verdict.

However, the jury was unable to arrive at a verdict in relation to all three of the accused persons.  As such, the trial judge declared hung juries. This means that the three murder accused will have to face a new trial at the next practicable sitting of the Demerara Assizes. They remain on remand.

According to media reports, 22-year-old Nazamudeen was beaten to death with several pieces of wood after he allegedly attempted to snatch a handbag belonging to Mandy Sukhdeo. Based on reports, Mandy Sukhdeo was walking along the Ruby Access Road when she was confronted by Nazamudeen, who she knew.

It is alleged that the man attempted to snatch her shoulder bag and a scuffle ensued. The woman called out to her father, who along with another man went to her rescue. After learning that Nazamudeen was armed with a piece of wood, they reportedly also similarly armed themselves.

They then dealt the man several lashes about his body including his face and tied his hands. By the time Police arrived at the scene, Nazamudeen was motionless. The Sukhdeos were arrested shortly after the incident, while Ghani was detained the next day after he was implicated by villagers.