Berbice serial killer appeals life sentences

Rooplall Abrahim, who is serving three life sentences and a 17-year prison term for killing four persons in Berbice, including a couple, has moved to the Guyana Court of Appeal where he is asking for a reduction of the sentences.

Serial killer: Rooplall Abrahim

Last December, at the Berbice Criminal Assizes, Justice Brassington Reynolds imposed the custodial sentences on the 28-year-old man, who opted to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter having been initially charged with four counts of murder.
He admitted that between January 8 and January 9, 2016, at Bush Lot, Middle Dam, West Coast Berbice (WCB), he unlawfully killed US-based Guyanese Arthur Doodnauth Rajkumar, 81, and his 45-year-old reputed wife, Diane Devi. Based on reports, Abrahim and his accomplice, Madanpaul Gocoul, who also pleaded guilty to the lesser count and was sentenced to 24 years in prison, broke into the couple’s home.
It was reported that the men chopped the man and his wife several times while demanding cash and other values. The couple, however, did not hand over anything. Police later found their mutilated bodies after receiving reports of screams coming from their home.
Also, he pleaded guilty to unlawfully killing 49-year-old Anita Baichan by arson between January 3 and 4, 2016. Media reports are that the woman’s bound and gagged body was discovered at her Plantation Hope, WCB home, which was set on fire. Abrahim, and his accomplice, Gocoul, called, “Clown”, raided Baichan’s home and escaped with $150,000 before setting it on fire.
Like Abrahim, Gocoul took a plea to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to 19 years’ imprisonment.  Abrahim was sentenced to life imprisonment with a possibility for parole after serving a minimum of 25 years in jail for the killing of the couple and Baichan.
Abrahim also faced another murder charge for killing his fellow inmate at the New Amsterdam Prison. He pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter, admitting that on June 21, 2017, he unlawfully killed 27-year-old Neshan Jagmohan. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison for that crime.
Jagmohan, of Hampshire Squatting Area, and his older brother, Ramnarine, a farmer, of Belvedere Squatting Area, were both on remand at the prison for the murder of Corentyne, Berbice businessman 34-year-old Devindra Deodat, which occurred in October of 2013.
The brothers, having attended court on June 21, 2017, returned to their cells where they were attacked by inmates, including Abrahim, who were armed with improvised weapons. They were rushed to the hospital where Jagmohan was pronounced dead on arrival.
Following a trial in 2011, Abrahim was acquitted of the September 2008 murder of 13-year-old Kavita Panday, whose body was fished out from a canal at Bath Settlement, WCB. Based on reports, the young girl went missing after she was last seen in the company of Abrahim.
After the teenager failed to return home, her family launched a search for her. Her partially nude body was found floating in the canal. (G1)