Accused admits to cuffing deceased’s brother

Mahaica accountant murder trial

The High Court trial into the 2015 murder of Suresh Nandkishore also called “Ravo” continued on Wednesday with the two accused, Sukhdeo Dharamdat called “Toney” and his son, Eshwardat Dharamdat called “Bruddow”, at the High Court before Justice Navindra Singh.

The State’s case is being led by Prosecutor Tuanna Hardy in association with Teriq Mohammed and Abigail Gibbs, while defence attorneys include Pamela De Santos, Brandon De Santos and Alanna Lall.
At Wednesday’s proceedings, Government Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh took the stand to offer evidence pertaining to the matter.
During his testimony, Dr Singh informed the court that while performing Nandkishore’s post-mortem, he observed a laceration to his head measuring about 8cm. He further stated that he died as a result of subgaleal or under-scalp haemorrhaging, which is bleeding in the potential space between the skull, as a result of head trauma.
Meanwhile, the older Dharamdat (Sukhdeo) who led his defence by offering evidence into the matter, told the court that on the day in question (February 3, 2015) he and his son (Eshwardat) were working when his smaller son (Chaitram) informed him that the Nandkishores were repairing the fence on their plot of land.
He further stated that when he approached the victims to inquire about what they were doing, a heated argument ensued and as a result, he and his smaller son were attacked by the deceased brother, Parmanand Nandkishore, who was armed with a cutlass which he used to inflict a chop to his face.
The accused claimed that Eshwardat was nowhere around at the time of the attack.

However, while under cross-examination by State Prosecutor Tuanna Hardy, the accused admitted to picking up a piece of wood and throwing it in the direction of the deceased as well as cuffing the dead man’s brother even though he posed no threat.
He, nevertheless, denied that he started the argument and that his sons attacked the now dead man, his father and brother. The accused further stated that he did not say “we ga kill all them men before we go to jail” as he explained that he tried to save Bhopaul Nandkishore (deceased father) who was injured unknowingly to him and fell into the trench.
On the other hand, the second accused, Eshwardat Dharamdat, led his defence by an unsworn statement in which he stated that he had no involvement in the attack but only went to his father’s rescue after being alerted.
At the conclusion of the accused’s testimony, both defence attorney and State prosecutor delivered their closing address to the 12-member jury on behalf of their respective clients, after which the panel of jurors is expected to deliver a verdict as the matter is to be summed up today.