Wife, friend found guilty…to be sentenced on March 29

AFTER deliberating for just under two hours, the 12-member Berbice Assizes jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty in favour of the prosecution, led by Special Prosecutor Ganesh Hira.

However, the sentences of Hemwattie Abdulla and Seerojnie Permaul have been deferred to Thursday, March 29, when a probation report on the convicts’ backgrounds will be presented to the court.

On Tuesday, February 13, Justice Sandil Kissoon commenced hearing the ‘scalping’ murder trial, in which  Abdulla called Annie and Anese, along with  Permaul known as Seerojnie or Usher, were  accused of unlawfully killing Abdool Shakeel Majid, a citizen of the USA, on April 26, 2012 at Number 63 Beach, Corentyne, Berbice.

They had pleaded not guilty to the murder indictment. Permaul was charged with being an accessory to the crime.
Majid, along with his wife of four months, Hemwattie Abdulla, had arrived in Guyana on April 22, 2012, with the intention of spending a two-week vacation.
But five days later the battered, lifeless body of Abdool Majid, whose scalp was missing, was found on the popular beach.

In the meantime, Abdulla had returned to the United States of America, where she is a resident, and had informed the deceased’s relatives that her husband  was enjoying himself in Suriname, and that, he had urged her to return home ,as her daughter had sustained  a  fractured  arm.

The deceased’s brother Abdul Hasseeb Majid of Jamaica, Queens, USA, in his testimony recounted the last moment he saw his brother alive, and thereafter, the utterances of Hemwattie Abdulla, the number one accused, which caused him to make a missing-person report at the New York City Police Department , before travelling  to Guyana. At his local address at Diamond Housing Scheme ,East Bank Berbice, he discovered his sibling’s suitcase, clothing ,United States of America passport,  along with other personal documents.

It was he who triggered an investigation, which led to the subsequent arrest and charges against the accused women.
Fourteen witnesses testified for the State.