The two men who were initially charged with the 2017 murder of Leonora, West Coast Demerara (WCD) sugar estate employee Kawal Shivnauth have pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter.
Deonarine Lakhan, also of Leonora, WCD, and Roopnarine Persaud, of Matthew’s Ridge, North West District (NWD), were arraigned before Demerara High Court Judge Sandil Kissoon on Wednesday.
They admitted that on January 9, 2017, at Edinburgh, WCD, they unlawfully killed Shivnauth.
Following their guilty pleas, the men were further remanded to prison, pending a sentencing hearing which is set for September 8.
The murder took place during a drinking spree at a bar. It was reported that Persaud began arguing with Shivnauth, and took out a knife and chopped him. Shivnauth then picked up a beer bottle to defend himself, but Lakhan took the bottle away from him, lashed him with it, and told Persaud to “juck him”.
It was reported that Shivnauth, also called “Rupee”, was stabbed six times in the vicinity of his heart. He also sustained a slash to the lower abdomen, along with another to his hand.
The argument broke out after Persaud accused the now dead man of “troubling” his sister.
The injured man was pronounced dead on arrival at the Leonora Cottage Hospital.
After the stabbing incident, Persaud fled the scene, but was later arrested in Matthew’s Ridge, where he resides. Following interrogation, he implicated Lakhan in the fatal stabbing.
