Parika man arraigned for beating reputed wife to death

A 39-year-old mason who allegedly killed his common-law wife on New Year’s Eve 2023 has been arraigned for the capital offence of murder.
Gurudeen Lalaram of Parika, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) appeared on Thursday before Leonora Magistrate Zamilla Ally-Seepaul to answer a charge accusing him of murdering 25-year-old Parika vendor Parbattie Amanda Persaud. He was not required to enter a plea to the indictable charge, and has been remanded to prison until his next court appearance, on February 2, 2024.

Background to the charge
Parbattie Amanda Persaud was mercilessly beaten by the accused, Gurudeen Lalaram, with a piece of wood on the morning of December 31, 2023.
According to information received, Persaud and Lalaram had, for the past six years, shared a common law relationship that produced a three-year-old daughter. During that relationship, Persaud had reportedly been constantly abused by her partner, but she had never reported the matter to the Police.
About three weeks before the brutal murder, the couple had had a misunderstanding that turned physical, and it resulted in the woman moving out of the home with her child.

On the day of the assault, at about 05:30h, Persaud was walking along the Parika Access Road, heading towards the market when she was confronted by Lalaram, who was riding an electric scooter. A heated argument ensued between the couple, during which the man disembarked the scooter, picked up a piece of wood, and dealt the woman one lash to her head, resulting in her falling to the ground.
With his anger not yet appeased, he stood over the woman and dealt her several blows to her face, after which he dropped the wood and made good his escape on the scooter. According to reports, he stopped a short distance away from the scene and hid in a clump of bushes.
The entire ordeal was recorded on a mobile phone by a resident in the area. The Police were summoned, and Lalaram was arrested and taken to the Parika Police Station, along with the suspected murder weapon.
Meanwhile, the injured woman, who was alternating between consciousness and unconsciousness, was picked up and taken to the Leonora Cottage Hospital, where she succumbed while receiving medical attention.