Crabwood Creek man charged with murdering wife

Crabwood Creek labourer Rishee Lakhraj, whose wife succumbed to a fatal stab wound that she claimed she inflicted on herself, was yesterday charged with her murder and he was remanded to prison.

Lakhraj, 62, of Grant 1803 Crabwood Creek, appeared before Magistrate Alex Moore at the New Amsterdam Magis-trate’s Court on the charge that he murdered Charmoney Charlie, at Crabwood Creek, between May 5th and May 8th. He was not required to plead and was remanded to prison until June 5th, when a hearing is scheduled before the Chief Magistrate in Georgetown.

Rishee Lakhraj

On May 5th, around 11pm, the man and Charlie, also known as ‘Pillow,’ got into a heated argument, after which he allegedly stabbed her to the abdomen. The woman reportedly told relatives and nurses at the hospital where she was taken that she stabbed herself because she was disgusted with life.

However, this did not stop investigators from placing Lakhraj into custody after the woman’s subsequent death.

On Wednesday, the man reportedly told investigators that he and Charlie were drinking alcohol in their bedroom when they had a misunderstanding. He claimed that he left and collected a knife from the kitchen and stabbed Charlie once to her abdomen. The man also allegedly told investigators that after Charlie started to complain of experiencing pain, he was going to take his own life but she reportedly convinced him not to, while stating that if anyone asked she would tell them that she inflicted the wound herself. He related to the police that he took Charlie to his sister’s place in the same area, where she related the said story, and she was then taken to the Skeldon Hospital the following day.

Charmoney Charlie

Charlie was treated by doctors at the Skeldon Public Hospital and sent away. The woman’s sister-in-law had told Stabroek News, that she passed away early Monday morning. Relatives had also laid blame on the health institution, claiming that if Charlie got the medical attention she needed, she could have been saved.

According to a post-mortem examination that was done on Thursday, Charlie died from an acute peritonitis (inflammation of the peritoneum, which is usually the result of a fungal or bacterial infection) and a stab wound to the wall of her abdomen.