Duo arraigned for brutal murder of Yakusari couple
Two men have been arraigned for the murder of 59-year-old Sarasauti Devi Budraj and her husband, 67-year-old Subnath Budraj, aka “Bull Boy”, who were found dead in their home at Yakusari, Black Bush Polder, Corentyne on Tuesday.
Twenty-two-year-old Harichan Persaud, also called “Head”, and 27-year-old Emanuel Whittington, also called “Gaza”, both of Yakusari South, BBP, appeared on Friday before Albion Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh and were read the indictments, to which they were not required to plead.
They have been remanded to prison, and their matters have been assigned for trial in the Mibicuri Magistrate’s Court on February 7, 2023.
Post-mortem examinations performed on the bodies of the Budraj couple by Pathologist Dr Vivakanand Bridgemohan have given the couple’s cause of death as follows: for Subnauth – smoke inhalation, shock and haemorrhage, and a fractured skull. The autopsy report also indicated that he died as a result of being burnt.
For Sarasauti: shock and haemorrhage, and a stab wound to the neck. She also had suffered being burnt before dying, the autopsy report indicated.
The bodies of the Budraj couple were reportedly found in the lower flat of their home at just after 4:00h on Tuesday last. They had reportedly been robbed before being murdered, and then their home was set alight by the perpetrators.
Neighbours recalled being awakened by a loud explosion, and upon investigating, they observed the couple’s home on fire. They formed a bucket brigade and were able to put out the blaze, which had already destroyed a section of the house. In an effort to rescue the couple, they broke into the burning building, only to find their bodies in pools of blood.
The couple had operated a wholesale beverage business from their home. From all indications, the fire was set in the storage bond, but by the time the fire tenders arrived, the blaze had already been contained by the residents.
The upper flat of the house had been ransacked and a quantity of jewellery and an undisclosed sum of money had gone missing.
At the Yakusari Market, situated two buildings away, Police found traces of blood and a mobile phone. Hours after the crime was committed, Police arrested Harichan Persaud and several others. During interrogation, he confessed to committing the heinous crime. During his confession, he reportedly told detectives that murdering the couple was not the perpetrators’ initial intention.
“We went there not to kill them, but we had to, because they would ah identify we, because they see us. We had to do what we had to do to erase the evidence,” the suspect reportedly told Police. He has also implicated Emanuel Whittington.
In relation to the fire, investigators were told that, after killing the couple, the perpetrators turned on the gas cylinder and lit paper which they placed around the room. That caused the explosion which was heard by residents.
Investigations are continuing.