West Berbice widow Thakurmani, 64, who was on trial for the death of her husband, was yesterday acquitted by a jury.
The Bennett Dam, Rosignol, West Berbice resident had been on trial at the Berbice Assizes for manslaughter over the 2008 death of her husband, Yodha, called ‘Ramsook Maikhoo,’ whom she was accused of beating to death.
“The Jury has returned a verdict of not guilty for the offence of manslaughter. You are discharged. You are free to go,” Justice James Bovell-Drakes told the woman, who gave an unsworn statement in which she said her husband had claimed he was beaten by unknown persons.
State Prosecutor Rhondel Weaver had led several witnesses who testified that on April 27, 2008, Thakurmani, armed with a piece of wood, had fatally beaten her drunken husband. The cause of Yodha’s death was recorded as shock and haemorrhage, along with multiple incised wounds.
After the judge overruled the submissions of defence attorney Rabindranauth Singh, Thakurmani was called to lead a defence. In her unsworn statement to the court, she denied attacking her husband, saying that he had returned home injured and had claimed that unknown persons beat him.
At his request, she said, she called over his brother, Charrandan Maikhoo, who noted the man’s drunk condition and opined that it did not appear as though he wanted to go to a doctor. As a result, she left her husband lying on the ground at their home, from where she said he was hurling curses at her. The next morning, it was discovered that the man was dead and Thakurmani was held.
