A cattle farmer was yesterday sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a Bloomfield blockmaker whose remains were discovered in two shallow graves at Number 55 Village, Corentyne in October, 2017.
Last month, in the midst of a trial at the High Court in Berbice before Justice Simone Morris Ramlall, Bharrat Ramsaywack, also known as ‘Bobby’, pleaded guilty to murdering 21-year-old Mahendra Ghanie, also known as ‘Sanjay’, between October 2 and October 6 in Number 55 Village, Corentyne.
Ramsaywack, who was represented by attorney Latchmie Rahamat, had pleaded not guilty when he was first charged in 2017.
He has the possibility of being paroled after spending 25 years in prison.
Before handing down the sentence, Justice Ramlall said that the case revolved around a human losing his life over two goats, adding that Ramsaywack valued the lives of his goats over that of his fellow mankind.
She said that after concluding that Ghanie had stolen his goats, Ramsaywack determined that death was the fitting punishment. She noted that in his caution statement, the accused had declared that had made that decision since he received information that the deceased had stolen his goats. “He did not act in the heat of the moment,” the judge noted. “He did not act impulsively… This is what the accused said in his caution statement: ‘Officer let me tell you something. Me been plan fa kill am since me know a he thief me goat but me na plan wah fa do with the body or else me na been a get caught’. There is no impulsive element in those words.”
Justice Ramlall also felt that pleading guilty was a tactical move as the caution statement was very telling.
She said Ramsaywack had lured the deceased to his home and embarked on executing his plan. “He was merciless, beating the deceased with a two-by-four piece of wood. His brutality did not end when the deceased took his last breath. In fact, he then proceeded to treat him like garbage, burning his body repeatedly over several days,” she stated.
Additionally, she said, the accused solicited the assistance of his minor son and another person to dispose of the body. She questioned what life lesson he was intending to impart to his impressionable son.
Three of the accused’s relatives read statements before the court pleading for a second chance for him and asking forgiveness. However, Justice Ramlall said she was “unimpressed” stressing that nothing excused his conduct of taking Ghanie’s life.
In a victim impact statement, Ghanie’s mother, Indranie Seenanand, said that her son worked to assist to maintain their family. She said that he was always very loving towards her and after his death she felt as though a part of her died. “All I want is justice,” she pleaded.
The victim’s father, Fazal Ghanie, said that his son was only 21 years old when he died. According to him, after his son’s murder, he started to suffer from high blood pressure. He explained that he was working in Trinidad at the time of his son’s murder. “Bharrat should get life imprisonment for my son. Day and night I does cry for my son,” he said.
Rahamat, entering a plea in mitigation, said the accused is a father of three children. She said that after entering the plea he expressed genuine remorse for his actions and has been involved in activities that have benefited him, adding that he has been engaged in training others in prison a life skill. She said he can be integrated into society given such.
Ramsaywack, addressing the court, apologized to the family as he pleaded for a second chance. “I need to go back into society and make back a life and show my family and society that I’m a better person,” he said.
Asking the victim’s family to forgive him he said, “please let us move on. Prison is not an easy place… Please ma’am I’m begging you from my heart.”
In October 2017, Ghanie’s relatives became worried after they were unable to contact him. The young blockmaker was employed at Ramsaywack’s house in Number 55 Village, Corentyne. They eventually headed to Number 55 Village to search. During the search, residents told Ghanie’s relatives that his boss had been seen lighting a “big fire” in the cemetery behind his house.
This information was related to the police and Ghanie’s boss, Ramsaywack, and one of his workers were arrested for questioning. After his arrest, residents said they noticed another fire being lit. The following day, what appeared to be the burnt remains of Ghanie was discovered in shallow graves behind the cattle farmer’s house
A police source had told Stabroek News that Ramsaywack and two others had admitted to the murder of Ghanie.
According to the source, the men claimed that Ghanie had stolen two goats from his employer, a cattle farmer, and tile and blockmaker. The source said the men had told investigators that they struck Ghanie on his head, rendering him unconscious, after which they dragged him to the back of Ramsaywack’s house, where a cemetery is located.
The source related that the men claimed they took his body to a shallow grave and set it on fire. However, when they returned in the wee hours of the next day, they discovered that the body had not been completely burnt. As a result, they took the body to another shallow location and set another fire in a bid to cover up their crime.
The three men were charged and remanded in October 2017. However, last month, Mohanlall Suesankar, also known as `Razor Blade’, and a boy who was 16 at the time of his arrest in 2017, were released after Justice Morris-Ramlall upheld no-case submissions.
Suesankar and the teenager had been on trial as accessories after the fact in connection with Ghanie’s murder. They were represented by attorneys Arud Gossai and Mursaline Bacchus, respectively, while the state was represented by attorney Muntaz Ali.
Based on information gathered, the police officer who took the caution statements from the two accused could not be located, which led to their attorneys making the no-case submissions that were upheld.
