Man pleads guilty to manslaughter of wife

A Lusignan man who shot his wife in the face and was charged with her murder two years ago, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the High Court and will be sentenced later this month.

Roopnarine Singh was indicted before Justice Roxanne George on Tuesday for the March 31, 2005 murder of his wife, Rajdai Sookraj but opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.

The plea was accepted by state counsel Ganesh Hira but a probation report was requested by Singh’s attorney Peter Hugh and sentencing was deferred to February 26.

Singh and Sookraj lived together for two years prior to the shooting.

Sookraj was found by police and relatives the morning after the incident on the ground in her home with the right side of her face blown off. A single-barrel shotgun was alongside her.

Reports are that Singh denied killing his wife, telling a neighbour that bandits had broken into the house and shot Sookraj. Following police investigations, he was arrested.

The couple reportedly drank a lot and had had numerous domestic disputes.