Father, sons confess to killing Corentyne farmer

… and burning body in yard

By Andrew Carmichael

Murdered labourer, Mahendra Ghanie

A father and his two sons have confessed to killing one of the father’s employees, reportedly by clubbing him to death and then chopping his body into pieces and burning it in their yard at Corentyne, Berbice.
Reports are that 21-year-old Mahendra Ghanie, also known as “Sanjay”, of Lot 198 Bloomfield Village, Corentyne, was killed and then dismembered before being set on fire. The burnt bones from the dismembered body were discovered on Friday afternoon after relatives of the missing man went in search of him.

Relatives of Mahendra Ghanie moments after finding what appeared to be his remains

Ghanie had reportedly gone to the home of his employer on Monday last to collect $70,000 which was owed to him. He never returned home and his family was told that he never got there which prompted a frantic search and the subsequent gruesome discovery a few days later of burnt human remains and bones.
According to a source close to the Police, the employer has confessed that he and his sons accused Ghanie of stealing two of their goats and one of his sons lashed him with a piece of wood to the head and he fell dead.

The pieces of bone that were found at the burn site

In an attempt to dispose of the body, they chopped it into pieces and then took it to the side of the yard on Monday evening and used dried coconuts and dried palm branches to burn it.
Meanwhile, villagers told this publication that the fire had been burning for several days. On Thursday, it is believed that the remains were placed in a hole which was dug two feet in depth and situated about 30-feet away from the house.
However, apparently as they were taking the remains to the hole, they left some evidence on the ground. The block maker, along with his 18 and 14-year-old sons lived alone on the premises.
Meanwhile, villagers are now questioning the disappearance of a man called “Palie” a few years ago who lived close to the block maker and who use to frequent his home and also periodically work for him.
Reports are that villagers had questioned the block maker about the whereabouts of “Palie” and were told that he had gone out to sea with a crew fishing.
According to reports, “Palie” who is from the East Coast of Demerara, has not been seen in his native village in recent times. The trio is expected to be charged shortly with the capital offence of murder.