Shackled at the feet and hands, a 14-year-old boy and his alleged accomplice appeared before Zamilla Ally at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court Tuesday, jointly charged with the murder of a Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara businesswoman.

Daveanand Rampersaud, 24, of Mahaicony and the teen were unrepresented and were not required to plead to the charge. The duo was remanded to prison until November 14 and will reappear at the Mahaicony Magistrate’s Court. The teenager will be placed at the juvenile holding centre, while Rampersaud will be at the Camp Street prison. The matter was held ‘in camera’ due to the age of the young man.

Fifty-six-year-old Bibi Nesha Shairoon called “Shakeela” bounded body was discovered in her Lot 3 Novar, Mahaicony East Coast Demerara home on September 17. The dead woman operated a grocery store that also sold garden chemicals, cell phone cards and cell phones. It was situated in the lower flat of her home, which was also ransacked.

The teenager became a suspect in the murder after residents revealed that he used to help the woman in the shop and he recently had an argument with her. Meanwhile, reports also indicate that the 25-year-old man confessed to beating the woman in the head with a frying pan and accused the teen of being the mastermind of the murder and robbery.

The body of the woman, who lived alone, was found by a relative, who went to check on her after she was not seen since October 15. The shop owner was found with her feet and hands tied with what appeared to be marks of violence on her body which was directed mostly to her head. The intruders gained access to the house by ripping out a few boards of the wall on the lower flat of the house after which they ransacked the place and carted off with valuables including money, phone cards among other things.