UPDATE: Reputed husband changes to guilty plead, says he paid hitman $100,000 to kill Babita Sarjou

Several hours after he denied killing his estranged reputed wife, Babita Sarjou, Shradhanand Narine called “Anand” threw himself at the mercy of the court on Monday afternoon, admitting that he paid his friend a meagre $100,000 to murder the mother of his son, whom he claimed was unfaithful and causing him embarrassment.

His co-accused and friend, Daral Ponton aka “Yankee” of Broad Street, Charlestown, Georgetown who, along with Narine, had earlier in the day denied killing the woman, joined with his employer and pleaded guilty to the capital offence of murder.

They admitted that they killed the woman between November 4 and 5, 2010.

Narine was represented by Attorney-at-Law Siand Dhurjon while Ponton’s lawyer was Nigel Hughes. State Counsel Muntaz Ali was one of the prosecutors.

In light of the men’s guilty pleas, Demerara High Court Judge Simone Morris-Ramlall further remanded them to prison until their sentencing hearing which is set for February 6.

The facts narrated by the prosecutor revealed that in 2009, the couple was experiencing marital problems which caused Narine to publish nude photographs of his wife at her workplace.

In October 2010, Narine and Ponton met on D’Urban Street, Georgetown and planned to kill the woman.  They lured her to Homestretch Avenue on November 4, 2010.

On the eve of Diwali, November 4, 2010, Sarjou, 28, had left her Timehri, East Bank Demerara (EBD) home to view the annual motorcade with her estranged husband and son.

When Sarjou arrived in the vicinity of the National Cultural Centre, she met Narine and Ponton sitting in Narine’s car.

Also in the car was the couple’s son.  As Sarjou reached into the car to grab her son, Narine tricked her into getting into the car by telling her that something was wrong with the vehicle.

He then exited the vehicle with his son, leaving Ponton and his reputed wife behind. He then ordered Ponton to choke his wife and instructed him to hunk the vehicle’s horn when he was done.

They then covered her lifeless body with a blanket and transported it to Narine’s Seaforth Street, Campbellville, Georgetown home.

There, they buried her body in a hole which had already been dug next to Narine’s yard. According to the prosecutor, the pair used mud and cement to conceal the corpse.

Narine paid Ponton $100,000 as part payment to kill his partner, Prosecutor Ali revealed. Narine, in his confession statement, told detectives that his wife was unfaithful and was causing him embarrassment, so he hatched a plan to get rid of her.

Ponton, however, in a similar statement, said he was only paid $50,000.

When Sarjou did not return home, Narine was questioned as the two were known to be experiencing problems in their marriage as several domestic violence reports were lodged at the Police station. Sarjou’s family then reported her missing to the Police.

Sarjou’s disappearance was solved in May 2016 after skeletal remains were found in a hole near her estranged husband’s residence. DNA tests confirmed that the remains were indeed Sarjou’s.

Her cause of death was given as inconclusive.