Essequibo Coast carpenter charged for killing wife

One week after allegedly stabbing his wife to death, an Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) carpenter, was on Friday hauled to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts after being slapped with the capital offence of murder.
Devenand Narine was not required to plea to the indictable charge when it was read to him by Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts. It is alleged that on May 16, 2019, he murdered Farida Khayum at their Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast home.
In court on Friday, the 50-year-old man was represented by Attorney-at-Law Bernard Da Silva. Da Silva told the court that on the day of the incident, his client was under the influence of alcohol and upon arriving at home, he saw another man in the house. The defence counsel said that after his client enquired about the individual, he was told that he was a friend of his wife.
This, however, the lawyer told the court, led to an argument. The lawyer said that his client was attacked by the now dead woman along with the friend and her two sons. The lawyer claimed that during the argument, his client told him, Khayum’s son held him down and threw a poisonous substance in his mouth.
At no point in time did the lawyer mention that the woman was killed. However, Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield told the court that investigations revealed that the suspect and the now dead woman were in the kitchen area when an argument ensued.
The argument, Mansfield added, quickly turned into a scuffle and it was at this time that the suspect armed himself with a knife and stabbed the woman several times to the body. After committing the act, he reportedly consumed a poisonous substance.
The police prosecutor also refuted claims that the now dead woman had a male companion in the house. Narine was remanded to prison and the case was transferred to the Anna Regina Magistrate’s Court.