Kilcoy residents up in arms after manslaughter accused granted bail

Family members and friends of John Alexander Yhap, who was stabbed to death on September 15, took to the streets for a second day on Wednesday, demanding justice and venting their frustration that the man charged for unlawfully killing Yhap had been granted bail.

Shouting, “We want justice!” and standing at the spot where the fisherman had fallen after being stabbed, a handful of persons, including neighbours and family members of Yhap and his widow, marched on to the Corentyne Highway and gathered in front of the Albion Magistrate’s Court.

The actions of the protestors disrupted traffic, forcing law enforcement officers from Albion Police Station to respond.
Twenty-two-year-old Yhap was fatally stabbed by a fellow villager on September 14 outside of a betting shop. On Monday, 22-year-old Arjune Mohabir of Kilcoy Squatting Area, Corentyne was placed on bail in the sum of $250,000 on a manslaughter charge on which he was arraigned in a New Amsterdam Court.
The dead man’s widow, Mineisha Chandralall, complained that when the matter was called at the Albion Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, the court was informed that the Police had not completed the case file.
“People get a small joint and then don’t get bail, and he kill, juck my husband seven times, and he get bail. This is not fair. I want justice,” she said. She said Yhap had been the breadwinner of the family, and had died without being able to provide a house for them.

Meanwhile, the dead man’s mother, Indra Seepersaud, broke down in tears as she reflected on her son’s life.
According to her, Yhap and Mohabir had been friends from a tender age.