Shakir Mohamed, one of the two men accused of killing Shewraney Doobay, was yesterday committed to stand trial in the High Court for her murder.
Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton, who presided over the preliminary inquiry (PI) into the charge at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court, informed Mohamed that a prima facie case had been made out against him and she committed him to face a trial for the May 24, 2011 murder
The magistrate noted that after reviewing the evidence and submissions by the prosecution and defence, the court found that there was sufficient evidence for a committal.
Mark Singh, Doobay’s nephew, had been jointly charged with for the capital offence, but he died in the hospital on January 4, this year.
The prosecution closed its case on May 4. Subsequently, defence attorney Vic Puran responded to the prosecution with a no-case submission. He was also present when yesterday’s decision was handed down.
The PI, which commenced on July 29, 2011, concluded one month short of a year. It saw a total of 12 witnesses taking to the stand to give evidence.
Doobay, 58, was killed in her Echilibar Villas, Campbellville home.
According to reports, the woman’s battered body was discovered in her kitchen lying in a pool of blood. She had been struck repeatedly in the head with a blunt instrument.
A post-mortem examination conducted by pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh revealed that she died as a result of eight wounds inflicted to her head.
Doobay was the wife of prominent doctor Ramsundar Doobay.
The prosecution’s case was that on the day in question, Singh, of Plaisance, East Coast Demerara, went to his aunt’s house along with his friend Mohamed and they were invited in and offered food by her.
Prosecutor Stephen Telford, who presented the police’s case at the arraignment, said that when the accused were leaving the house they both attacked Doobay with a hammer and she subsequently died. Investigations by the police led to the arrest of Singh and Mohamed and the discovery of a hammer, he added.
Telford noted that Singh and the deceased both occupied a family house, for which he was obligated to pay rates and taxes. This, the prosecutor said, caused conflict between Doobay and Singh and led to the murder.
The woman’s body was found on the afternoon of the murder by Dr. Doobay and one of his nephews.
The doctor, who had forgotten his keys at home that day, used a ladder and removed the louver panes of a second floor window to gain access to the house, where they found the woman in a pool of blood.
