Dipnarine Seelall, also known as “Narei”, was on Friday freed of the charge of killing his wife, Tavita Natasha Lall, after a jury at the Berbice High Court returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty. The jury also unanimously found Seelall not guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter, bringing an end to the trial before Justice Gino Persaud.
State Counsel Merissa Edwards prosecuted the case, while Attorney-at-Law Vinay Punwa represented Seelall.
Lall, a 42-year-old mother of four and cleaner attached to the Tagore Memorial Secondary School, sustained severe burns during an incident at the couple’s Number 64 Village, Corentyne home on January 7, 2022. She subsequently died while receiving treatment at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
Before the jury retired on Friday, both the prosecution and defence made their closing addresses, presenting sharply different accounts of how Lall came to be burnt. Punwa reminded the jury that only two persons were present when the incident occurred, Lall and the accused. The defence questioned the prosecution’s case that Seelall pushed his wife into a kerosene stove, pointing to evidence concerning the position of the stove when Police subsequently arrived.
“The prosecution wants you to believe that he pushed her into the stove. The stove did not move. How does that make sense?” the Defence Attorney asked the jury.
Punwa also relied on evidence which emerged during the trial concerning Lall’s previous suicide attempts. He pointed to testimony that she had said that whenever she had problems, she would threaten to kill herself, and that there had been two previous attempts to take her own life.
The defence also referred to a statement Lall had given to Police in which she reportedly related that her husband told her, “If you want to burn yourself, dead.”
Punwa further drew the jury’s attention to evidence that while Lall was being transported by ambulance, she asked her mother to forgive her. “They are trying to pin the blame on this innocent man,” the Defence Attorney told the jury.
State Counsel Edwards, however, urged the jury not to speculate about why Lall asked her mother for forgiveness. The prosecutor acknowledged the evidence from Lall’s mother concerning previous suicide attempts when her daughter experienced problems with her husband, but directed the jury’s attention to what Lall reportedly told several persons following the January 2022 incident.
According to the prosecution, Lall told persons she interacted with after being burnt that it was her husband who pushed her into the stove. Edwards reminded the jury that Lall’s son, daughter-in-law and a doctor had given evidence that she told them Seelall had pushed her.
The prosecutor also drew attention to Seelall’s interviews with Police. During an earlier video-recorded interview, the accused reportedly told investigators that he had pushed Lall. Edwards replayed part of that recording for the jury, including the portion in which Seelall was heard stating that he pushed her.
At the time that interview was conducted, Lall was still alive. However, the prosecution said that during a subsequent interview, after Seelall had been imprisoned and was facing a murder charge following his wife’s death, he gave a different account. In that version, Seelall reportedly told investigators that Lall had thrown kerosene on herself and set herself alight.
Edwards argued that Seelall had been coached by prisoners and subsequently changed his account. She also referred to evidence concerning the scene. Seelall had reportedly told investigators that the stove was in the hall, while a Police witness testified about observing burn marks on the floor and wall in that area.
“I will fight for my life”
The prosecutor further reminded jurors of Lall’s reported declaration after suffering the burns, “I will fight for my life.” “Is that someone who wants to commit suicide?” Edwards asked the jury.
Justice Persaud, in summing up the case, reminded jurors that Seelall had exercised his right to give an unsworn statement and that his decision not to enter the witness box and give sworn evidence could not be held against him. The judge reviewed the evidence presented during the trial, which included testimony from 16 witnesses, two caution statements, two video-recorded interviews and the post-mortem report.
Justice Persaud also addressed the issue of suicide, cautioning jurors that they were not to speculate on the matter and explaining the evidence they were entitled to consider in arriving at their verdict. He also directed the jury on the alternative verdict of manslaughter. The judge explained that if they were not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the prosecution had established the intent necessary for murder, they were required to consider whether the evidence supported the lesser offence.
After considering the case, the jury returned unanimous not-guilty verdicts on both murder and manslaughter, clearing Seelall of criminal responsibility for his wife’s death. Speaking after he was freed, Seelall said he now intends to return to working at sea as a fisherman.
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