Man gets 76 years for wife’s murder

Oct 19, 2013 News

Justice Navindra Singh yesterday imposed a 76-year jail sentence on murder accused, Ramesh Muniram, at the High Court.
Muniram was on trial for the murder of his wife, Sunita August, on January 14, 2010 at Nismes, West Bank Demerara.
A few weeks ago, Justice Singh sentenced Tyrone Rowe, called Cobra, to 78 years for robbery and murder.
Yesterday, following five hours of deliberation, a mixed 12-member jury,

Sunita (August) Muniram and Ramesh Muniram

returned to the courtroom with a unanimous guilty verdict.
Justice Singh told Muniram that since the Judiciary can now impose an alternative to the death penalty for murder, he will be sentenced to 60 years for murder, an additional five years because he premeditated to kill his wife, five more years because he proceeded with such brutality and six years for the domestic violence involved in the matter.
Attorney- at- Law, Judith Gildhari-Mursalin prosecuted the case on behalf of the State, while Attorneys-at-Law Pamela and Bernard De Santos were on record, as providing legal representation for the accused.
According to documents presented to the Court, Muniram alias “Bobby” of Lot 5 Vauxhall, Canal Number 1 Polder, West Bank Demerara poisoned his wife, before strangling her to death.
Details into the case revealed that Muniram’s wife ingested a poisonous substance concealed in a Pepsi bottle which he had given to her.
As the poison took effect, the woman started to ‘fight up’ and fell into a nearby canal, Muniram went after her, choked her until she was lifeless and then hid her body under stuff in the canal.
However, on Monday last, while leading his defence, Muniram denied killing his wife, claiming that the police officer, who procured his caution statement, had beaten him into admitting that he committed the crime.
As a result, Muniram said that he was taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) after he started to vomit blood.
Muniram claimed on January 14, 2010, he and his wife had just finished having sexual intercourse, when she decided to go to a koker at Nismes canal to bathe. The man told the court that his wife fell into the koker and in an attempt to save her, he went for a piece of stick, since he could not swim but when he returned he couldn’t find her.
Muniram said that he left the area and told his mother what had happened. He said that he was afraid and confused and thus went into hiding.
Among the witnesses called upon to testify in the matter were State Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh and Sharin Cumberbatch, a Medex attached to the Georgetown Prisons.
According to the autopsy report presented to the court, August died from asphyxiation due to drowning. The coroner reported that the woman’s body bore compressed injuries to the neck. At the time of her death, August was the mother of three young children.
In giving her piece of evidence, Ms. Cumberbatch told the court that Muniram was admitted to prison January 15, 2010, but was not admitted to GPHC until March 21, 2010 after he started to complain of chest pains.