Fifty-seven-year-old Deonarine Bhikhari, who had been on trial for the murder of his neighbour which occurred almost 23 years ago, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Wednesday by Justice Jo Ann Barlow at the High Court in Demerara.
In imposing the custodial sentence, the Judge specified that the convicted killer must serve a minimum of 30 years—from which the period he spent in pretrial custody must be deducted—before he is considered eligible for parole.
Bhikhari, who had initially pleaded not guilty to a charge for the capital offence of murder, contrary to common law, was found unanimously guilty by a jury of his peers.
He murdered Daniel Singh, 49, on May 21, 2000, at Enmore, East Coast Demerara (ECD).
Reports state that Singh did not approve of Bhikhari’s relationship with his young daughter.
During the killer’s sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Justice Barlow admonished him for his beastly act, emphasising that such actions will be strongly condemned by the court.
According to the High Court Judge, grown men in any community must assist in maintaining law and order and not behave like a beast.
Despite the jury’s verdict, she pointed out that the convict has shown no remorse and has continued to maintain his innocence, “laying blame at everyone else doorstep except his own”, while noting that he had fled the country to avoid being prosecuted.
Some of the dead man’s children, in their impact statement, detailed the hardships they faced as a result of their father’s untimely passing.
They recalled having to drop out of school at an early age to assist their mother with providing for their basic needs. They were high in praise of the justice system, expressing that even though it has been more than 20 years since their father’s death, their family has finally gotten justice.
In the end, Justice Barlow ordered that Bhikhar must attend behaviour modification sessions, including anger management classes, during his incarceration. He was represented by Attorney-at-Law Nirvan Singh while Attorney-at-Law Konyo Sandiford-Holder was the prosecutor.
Singh, a single father, was living at Hope West, Enmore, ECD with his four children. This publication understands that Singh and Bhihari usually had confrontations since Bhikhari and Singh’s then teenage daughter, had reportedly liked each other but Singh did not approve of this.
At the time, Bhikhari was in his 30s while the young girl was in her late teens. It is, however, unclear what might have triggered Bhikhari’s actions on the day in question.
It was reported that on that day, Singh was sitting on his front step when he was attacked by the cutlass-wielding man, who also killed three of the family’s dogs while injuring his young daughter.
After the attack, Bhikhari had fled to neighbouring Venezuela but due to the crisis in that country, he later returned home and was only apprehended by Police in May 2018 at a house at Enmore.
