A Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara (WCD) machine operator has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with the death of re-migrant, Mohammed Shameem Hassan, who was fatally stabbed on Saturday, February 9, 2019, during a drinking spree at his home.
Fifty-year-old Deonarine Seetaram, who was charged with the capital offence of murder, opted to enter a guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter when he appeared before Demerara High Court Judge Priya Sewnarine-Beharry earlier this week.
Seetaram’s probation and other social impact reports will be presented in court on February 5, when he is scheduled to return for sentencing. Teriq Mohammed is Seetaram’s attorney and State Counsel Caressa Henry and Alvaro Ramotar are the prosecutors.
As far as this publication is aware, the two men were drinking at the now deceased man’s house when the stabbing occurred. A pair of scissors was used to stab Hassan once in the chest.
In a caution statement that he provided to the Police, Hassan stated, among other things, that he went to the house on that day and met his father and the now deceased imbibing.
He said that shortly after his father asked Hassan to borrow a pair of scissors so that he could trim his hair, he joined them. He reported to the Police that Hassan had gone upstairs, returned, and given his father a pair of red and black scissors, which he used to cut his hair.
He claimed that his father had cut his hair and then set the scissors down on the bench they were seated on. He stated that his father later left and went to a nearby shop to purchase a drink and during that time, the now deceased started to curse him and tell him that he will “f*%k his wife and daughter them”. He said he was vexed, so he grabbed the scissors, and “juck” Hassan.
The scissors were left in Hassan’s chest, and he was left lying down motionlessly in the hammock. Seetaram said he became afraid and picked up his bicycle and rode and went home.
Hassan’s cause of death was given as perforation of the heart due to a stab wound.
Hassan had returned to Guyana in March 2018 from Venezuela, where he had lived for some 25 years with his family. (G1)
