The mother of US-based Guyanese and murder accused Marcus Bisram and her co-accused on Tuesday led their defence in relation to the matter in which both women were charged for offering a detective G$4 million for him to suppress evidence against Bisram.
Sharmila Inderjali, of Number 72 Village, Corentyne, Berbice and Maryanne Lionel, a relative of one of Bisram’s alleged accomplices, who are currently out on G$3 million bail appeared before Magistrate Leron Daly and give unsworn statements when the matter was called on Tuesday.
During her testimony, Inderjali maintained her innocence. In her statement, she told the court that in November 2016 she accompanied Lionel to pay the bail for her father, along with the others who were arrested by Police. The woman expressed that she could not read properly and that the Police made her sign the statement.
Lionel, in her statement, said that in November 2016 she had received information about her father, along with others being placed on bail. The woman related that she took money and went to Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown to pay the bond, and the Police made accusations against her.
Magistrate Daly adjourned the case to October 30, 2019 after the women’s lawyer, Sanjeev Datadin, asked for time to review the evidence.
The charge stated that the women, during November 2016, allegedly offered a detective at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary, Georgetown, G$4 million for him to hide evidence against Bisram.
On October 31, 2016, Faiyaz Narinedatt was beaten and run over with a motor car on the alleged orders of Bisram, after the carpenter declined sexual advances that were made by the overseas-based Guyanese. The body of 27-year-old Narinedatt was later found on the Number 70 Village Public Road, Corentyne.
Evidence had indicated that the carpenter was thrashed, placed in the trunk of a car, and then placed on the road. It is believed that five henchmen – Radesh Motie, Diadatt Datt, Harri Paul Parsram, Orlando Dickie and Niran Yacoob – were instructed by Bisram to dump the body and make his death seem as a result of a vehicular accident. While two of the men have confessed to the killing, Bisram’s mother and sister were accused of offering bribes to dissolve the case.
The Guyana Police Force came in for unprecedented criticism after several Police Officers in Berbice were implicated in a plot to cover up the murder. All of the accused have since been committed to stand trial in the High Court for the murder after a Berbice Magistrate found that a prima facie case has been made out against them.
On March 7, 2017, a warrant was issued for Bisram, who had left for the US, by the judicial system in Guyana. However, Bisram filed legal proceedings in a US court in an attempt to fight his extradition back to Guyana. He was unsuccessful, after a US appellate court denied his application to stay the extradition proceedings in an effort to have a rehearing of his appeal. The five men have been committed to stand trial at the Berbice High Court.
