Cattle farmer who killed employee over missing goats gets life imprisonment

…eligible for parole after 25 years

A Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) cattle farmer who admitted to killing one of his workers over some missing goats before burning and burying his remains, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the High Court in Berbice.

When 50-year-old Bharrat Ramsaywack, called “Bobby”, a cattle farmer of Number 55 Village, Corentyne, was arraigned before the Judge, he pleaded not guilty to the charge, which stated that he murdered Mahendra Ghanie called “Sanjay” between October 2 and 6, 2017.
However, as the trial progressed, upon receiving advice from his attorney Latchmie Rahamat, Ramsaywack changed his not-guilty plea to guilty. As such, the trial Judge directed the mixed 12-member jury to return a formal verdict of guilty in his favour.
During her sentencing remarks, Justice Morris-Ramlall described the murder of Ghanie, 21, as a senseless killing, noting that it has caused his family unnecessary grief and trauma. Ghanie’s father, in a victim impact statement, shared, “Since my son’s death, I’m not feeling good. I always getting high pressure. I really miss my son, Mahendra; day and night I does cry for my son.”
His grieving mother questioned how someone could chop up her son like meat and then bury him.
In a plea in mitigation on Ramsaywack’s behalf, Rahamat told the court that her client is a prime candidate for rehabilitation since he teaches his fellow inmates blockmaking.
Before sentencing the confessed killer to imprisonment for life with the possibility of parole not before 25 years, Justice Morris-Ramlall said, “A person who treats a fellow human being in the manner in which this accused treated the deceased, ought to be deprived of the right to interact with other members of society, for an indefinite period.”
The skeletal remains of 21-year-old Ghanie, a block maker, were found in a shallow grave with burning coconut shells next to a cemetery at Number 55 Village, close to Ramsaywack’s fence.
According to reports, the youth had left his home after being contacted by Ramsaywack.
It had been reported that Ramsaywack offered the Police a confession statement stating that Ghanie was struck on his head with a piece of wood, rendering him unconscious.
He then reportedly dragged him and dumped him into the shallow grave. Ghanie was then set afire. After checking and finding that the body was not completely destroyed, the convict burnt it again in another shallow grave. He had earlier accused Ghanie of stealing his goats.
Ghanie’s remains were discovered in the shallow grave on October 6, 2017.
Ramsaywack along with his son, Prem Ramsaywack, who was 16 years old at the time of the murder, and Mohanlall Suesankar, another employee, were indicted in December 2018, for the murder of Ghanie, with the latter two accused of being accessories to the crime.
However, the other two men were freed after the court upheld no-case submissions made by their respective lawyers. In light of this, the jury was directed to return formal not-guilty verdicts. (G1)