Husband confesses to killing wife, burying body in shallow grave

…tells Police he wrapped wife in bedsheet before digging grave

The decomposed body of Berbice mother was in the wee hours of Friday found in a shallow grave more than one week after her disappearance.
Dead is 53-year-old Waynmattie Permaul also called “Datalin”, a mother of three of Kilcoy Chesney, Corentyne, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
The woman’s husband, Avemanen Permaul, was arrested after he confessed to murdering and burying the woman’s body in an empty plot of land opposite the couple’s home.

Preliminary investigations by detectives revealed that the couple’s son, cricketer Versammy Permaul, turned up at the Police station on Thursday and reported that his mother and father were not on speaking terms and that his mother was last seen on April 21, 2022.
As such, an investigation was launched during which bloodstains were found at the home of the murdered woman. Her ex-husband was immediately arrested and interrogated during which he revealed that he and the woman have been separated for about two years now.
Following the separation, the suspect moved to the upper flat of the home while his wife remained in the lower flat. The suspect further stated that on April 21, 2022, between 18:00h and 18:30h, he was in the yard in close proximity to the woman’s bedroom and overheard her speaking on her mobile phone to a male.
He told detectives that he immediately confronted the woman in the bedroom and an argument broke out between them. This led to a scuffle during which he cuffed her about her body and choked her neck.
Soon after, he stated that he saw blood on her body and she fell to the floor and remained motionless.

The suspect, instead of calling out for assistance, wrapped the woman’s body in a bedsheet, left her on the floor, and went into the empty lot which is about 100 yards opposite his home where he dug a hole.
He later returned to the house and dragged the woman’s body to the empty lot and dumped it in the hole. He then covered it with dirt.
After committing the act, he went back to his home and went about his normal business. Nevertheless, after interrogation, the businessman took homicide detectives to the area where he buried the woman’s body where the gruesome discovery was made.

At the scene on Friday, family members were reluctant to provide information to the media but related that after they did not see the woman for several days, they were of the belief that she had gone to a relative’s home to “cool her head”.
The relatives disclosed that whenever the couple had their arguments – which was frequently – she would leave the home and return after a few days.
According to one neighbour, at about 22:00h on Thursday, a group of Police officers went into the vacant plot of land and were searching but she did not pay any mind.
The woman stated that the team returned to the area at about 1:30h on Friday. This time, she added, there were more Police officers.
“I see they go so and they shining light on one spot… they were there for about one hour and then I hear one of the detectives say, “look the woman body there”. Is then I realise that it for real that he killed she”, the neighbour added.
According to her, there was no unusual smell coming from the vacant plot of land which is located next to her home.
“Is only when they pass with the body this morning, I smell something because they pass with her right by my fence and take her and put her in the hearse and I see they putting him back in the Police car.”
The neighbour referred to the dead woman as being very friendly but the suspect did not speak much to people in the area. Another neighbour related that the now dead woman would take her afternoon walks around the village as a form of exercise.
“She would always raise her hand and say hi to you but he don’t say anything to anyone unless you say hello to him first then he would say hello to you but it is a very quiet couple,” she said. Once completed, the investigative file will be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for advice.
In November 2010, Babita Sarjou had left her mother’s Timehri, East Bank Demerara (EBD) residence to meet her estranged husband and son – who was four years old at that time – to view the annual Diwali motorcade at the Kitty Seawall, Georgetown.
She was never seen again and despite repeated telephone calls to both of Sarjou’s cellular phones on that night and after, every attempt to contact her proved futile.
A report was made at the Timehri Police Station, EBD, and then another at the Kitty Police Station about the woman’s disappearance.
Shortly before the woman’s disappearance, she had filed a harassment case against her husband, Sharadanand Narine, called “Anand”, but the case was later dismissed.
Narine was accused of pasting numerous copies of a nude photo of her on the walls and fence of her workplace at BK International, Soesdyke, EBD.
However, six years later, Darell Punton, called “Yankee” confessed to helping Narine murder Sarjou and burying her body in the backyard of Narine’s Lot 51 Seaforth Street, Campbellville, Georgetown property.
The accomplice allegedly took investigators to where the skeletal remains were buried and upon unearthing the bones, Police ranks arrested the duo for the crime.
Then in May 2019, the burnt remains of 37-year-old Zaila Sugrim were discovered in a shallow grave behind her estranged husband’s home at Crane, West Coast Demerara (WCD).
She was last seen at the Vreed-en-Hoop Stelling when she entered the motor car of her estranged husband. After several days had elapsed, relatives became suspicious and contacted the Police.
Several Police officers visited the husband’s home but he was uncooperative; however, he held out that he had not seen the woman. After realising that something was amiss, the suspect’s children reportedly reviewed CCTV footage but a certain time period was deleted. The husband was arrested and during interrogation, he finally broke down and confessed that he had killed his estranged wife and led Police to the back of the yard where he buried the body.
All her personal belongings which included her purse, shoes, jewellery and other items were found in the shallow grave.