Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 15, 2015 Features / Columnists, Murder and Mystery
– What happened to Ramnauth Bisram stunned his community… but what happened to his alleged killers outraged a country
By Michael Jordan
At around 16:00 hrs on October 26, 2009, a man entered the Lot 11 North Section, Canal Number Two
home of former Region Three Vice Chairman Ramnauth Bisram.
The man, a relative, was worried because he had not heard from the 55-year-old Bisram.
He would later tell police that upon entering the yard, he observed that the back door was open. The relative then entered the four-bedroom house and soon discovered why the owner had failed to answer.
Lying on the floor, in a pool of his own blood, was Ramnauth Bisram. He had been stabbed multiple times to the back, abdomen and other parts of the upper body. A knife, suspected to be the murder weapon, was lying near the corpse.
According to the relative, Bisram’s wedding ring and another ring that he always wore were missing, while a suitcase had also been ransacked.
News of Ramnauth Bisram’s death soon spread through the community and a crowd gathered at his home. A team of detectives was there, too, searching for clues about the killers.
There was no sign of forced entry. This led to the belief that the killers had either gained entry through the back door, which was left open, or that the victim had unwittingly let them in.
Bisram, one of the community’s most prominent residents, lived alone, since his wife and four children had migrated to the United States a few years earlier.
Investigators were certain that he was familiar with his attackers, and that this was no random crime by
vagrants in the area.
There was suspicion that the retired official’s lifestyle might have contributed to his brutal demise. According to reports from villagers and some investigators, Bisram was rather over-friendly with some young men in his community, and would occasionally let them visit his home.
Police began to focus on villagers who had reportedly visited Bisram on the day of his death.
A few days later, they detained Deonarine Rafick, Nouravie Wilfred and a 15-year-old boy, who were all residents of Canal Number Two.
Police reports alleged that the teenager, Twyon Thomas, had visited the premises to do some work around the house.
The case appeared to be proceeding like any normal investigation. But shortly after the arrests, an informant provided Kaieteur News with disturbing photographs of the arrested teen. The pictures showed the young man’s badly burnt privates.
Other persons alleged that the lad, who was arrested at night at his home, was taken to the Leonora Police Station, where two police ranks, whom they identified, placed a bag over his head, soaked his genitals with methylated spirits, then set his privates alight.
With his face still covered, he was seen at the Leonora Police Station by a police physician, but was not taken to a hospital.
The boy’s mother and stepfather were not allowed to see him and had no idea where he was being kept.
Relatives of the other detained men also alleged that the suspects were brutalised while in custody by two rogue policemen who were trying to squeeze confessions out of them.
On November 1, 2009, the country was shocked when Kaieteur News published a graphic photograph of the teen’s injuries. That very day, he was released from custody and admitted to hospital.
By then, police had charged Deonarine Rafick with Bisram’s murder. The accused appeared in court showing visible head injuries.
But shortly after, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) ordered that the charges be withdrawn.
By now, all attention had moved from the murder victim to the three accused and the three policemen accused of their torture.
Sergeant Narine Lall, Constable Mohanram Dolai and Corporal Oswald Foo, were charged with the unlawful and felonious wounding of Rafick and Wilfred.
Lall and Dolai were also charged with unlawfully wounding the teenage boy.
The boy’s attorney, Khemraj Ramjattan, filed a $25M lawsuit seeking damages against the Attorney General of Guyana, the Commissioner of Police, and the two ranks implicated in his torture, Sergeant Narine Lall and Constable Mohanram Dolai.
But the alleged victims, Deonarine Rafick, Nouravie Wilfred and Twyon Thomas, failed to appear in court to testify against the accused policemen.
In June 2011, a court awarded $6.5M in damages to Twyon Thomas. The Attorney General was also ordered to pay $100,000 in costs, while Sergeant Narine Lall and Constable Mohanram Dulai, the two policemen accused of torturing Thomas, were ordered to pay $75,000 each in costs.
Justice Roxanne George also criticized the actions of Dr. Mahendra Chand, the police doctor who had examined the injured teen while he was in custody at the Leonora Police Station, as lacking “sensitivity and professionalism.”
Last year, the case again grabbed the attention of the press, politicians and the public, when Sergeant Narine Lall was promoted to the rank of Inspector, and Dolai to the rank of Corporal.
Defending this decision, Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud said that Lall and Dolai were not found guilty during a criminal trial because their accuser, Twyon Thomas, did not turn up in court to testify.
“We have a policy on disciplining of ranks. Ranks who have been charged and go before the court, if they are convicted, they are dismissed. If they are exonerated, then they become a member of the force,” the Commissioner said.
With all the controversy, the murder victim, Ramnauth Bisram, has been all but forgotten. Will his killers ever be caught?
If you have any information about an unsolved murder or disappearance, please contact us at our Lot 24 Saffon Street, Charlestown location.
You can also contact us on telephone numbers: 22-58465, 22-58491 or 22-58458.
You can also contact Michael Jordan on his email address:[email protected]
Please share this to every Guyanese including your house cats.
Apr 19, 2024
SportsMax – West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews delivered a stellar all-round performance to lead her team to a commanding 113-run victory over Pakistan Women in the first One Day...Kaieteur News – For years, the disciples of Bharrat Jagdeo have woven a narrative of economic success during his tenure... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Waterfalls Magazine – On April 10, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]