Woman charged with abetting
accused granted $250,000 bail
Bibi Ariefa Manzoor, the woman accused of aiding and abetting murder accused Ramnauth Doobay, after he allegedly murdered businessman Mark Anthony Gill in July, 2005 was released on bail on Monday at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate’s Court.
Before granting Manzoor bail in the sum of $250,000, Magistrate Fazil Azeez ordered her to lodge her passport with the court and to report to the Vreed-en-Hoop Police Station every Friday.
Doobay called ‘Rahul’ or ‘Vishal’ was charged with murder while Manzoor was charged with being an accessory after the fact to the same offence.
It is alleged that between July 7 and 8 2005, Doobay murdered Mark Anthony Gill while Manzoor allegedly received, relieved, comforted and assisted Doobay, after July 8 and beyond.
In granting bail, the magistrate noted that the statement of offence and the particulars of the offence clearly pointed to Manzoor being an accessory after the fact to murder, which was a substantive and separate section under the Criminal Law Offences Act.
He noted that it was a bailable offence. “Her offence or her role in the crime is not the same as the Number One,” he stated.
The court was informed that Manzoor’s passport was lost and the magistrate asked the prosecutor to contact the Chief Immigration Officer to ascertain whether her passport was in force.
He ordered that the Chief Immigration Officer be notified of the proceedings and the need to prevent any travel out of the jurisdiction by the accused.
When the matter was called previously, Manzoor’s counsel, Humkumchand had made a bail application and had pointed to cases in which bail had been granted for similar offences.
The preliminary inquiry into the murder has been ongoing since 2005.
According to reports, Gill called ‘Markie’, who was the manager of Big Gill Fashions in Water Street, was found dead in a pool of blood in his bedroom around 8 am on July 8, 2005. His body bore several chops with a gaping one almost resulting in his neck being severed.
After Gill’s murder, the two accused could not be found and they were listed as suspects.
They were nabbed in Suriname after wanted bulletins were issued for them through Interpol and they appeared before the court in September, 2005 and were remanded to prison.
The matter continues on March 10.
