6 remanded for brutally beating Corentyne pandit to death

Gregory Tejpertab, Razan Ally, Anil Angershalam, Javed Ghanie, Devendra Khemraj and Vidaiand Khemraj were on Friday remanded to prison by Magistrate Alex Moore for the murder committed on Corentyne Pandit Rishi Bharrat.
The six men, appearing at the No 51 Magistrate’s Court, were not required to plead to the indictment, which stated that, on August 29, they murdered Bharrat. They will make their next court appearance on October 14, 2021.
It has been reported that the Pandit was lashed to the head with a piece of wood and with beer bottles. The man’s 11-year-old son was also injured in the attack.
Police initially stated that a group of eight men were imbibing and using foul language in front of the now dead man’s property, and, as such, Bharrat went out to the men with a piece of wood and told them to remove from the area. This was at about 02:15h.
However, the men became annoyed, armed themselves, and began hitting the religious leader about his body, causing him to collapse on the street. He was picked up by his relatives in an unconscious state, and rushed to the Skeldon Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
The man’s wife, Jasmin Bharrat, has told Guyana Times that at about 18:30h, a group of young men had gathered in front of their home, and were speaking loudly and using foul language. This, she said, was disturbing her family.
She related that the family endured it until about 21:00h, when they were ready to retire to bed. Her husband, she added, opened a window and spoke to the group of men. He reportedly told them that his premises was not a “rum shop”, and asked them to go elsewhere.
“He told them that people are living here, and we are trying to sleep, because we have work to do the next day,” the wife explained.According to the wife, the men started to curse Bharrat. Upon hearing their verbal abuse, she reportedly contacted the Springlands Police Station to seek their intervention, but no one responded to the report.
Bharrat reportedly went out of the house and onto the street to speak with the group of men. As he approached the men, one of them picked up a piece of wood and lashed Bharrat to his head. As he fell to the ground, the others took beer bottles and started to hit the pandit.
Bharrat had been operating a temple at his home for more than a decade; by this he had made a living. He had complained several times about the unholy behaviour taking place in front of his mandir. Back then, he had stated that the Police were reluctant to respond whenever he called.