JUSTICE Navindra Singh, on Monday, jailed 21-year-old Jonathan Budhan for 25 years after a 12-member jury returned a guilty verdict for manslaughter against him.
The young man was initially charged for murdering 40-year-old Deon Manbodh, called Ramesh, who was the uncle of his girlfriend, Bena Manbodh.

Reports are that Budhan, of Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara, who was 19 at the time of the incident, lashed Ramesh, of 655 Best Village, West Coast Demerara, to the head on October 20, 2016. Ramesh was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital and was in a coma for five days, after which he succumbed to his injuries.
From the testimonies given during the trial, on October 20th, Budhan was with his girlfriend Bena, when her uncle, Ramesh, approached the two and ‘embarrassed them in public’, then took his niece away with him.

The accused, who lived with his aunt, Basmattie Baksh, went home after the incident and complained to her about the public scene Ramesh created. He told his aunt that Ramesh would constantly harass him and call him names, and that he was embarrassed. He further noted that the man would continuously tease him and his gender, and call him an ‘anti-man’.

The aunt, who testified in court, said that she and her nephew were waiting on the bridge of her home, to ask Ramesh what had transpired. Ramesh lived a few houses away, so he had to pass their home to get to his.

When Ramesh came, the aunt said she was trying to find out from him what really happened, and they agreed to walk down to the place where he confronted the teen-couple, to find out the full story from the people around.

It was while they were walking that Budhan used his cricket bat and dealt a lash behind Ramesh’s head, causing him to fall to the ground, unconscious. Baksh told the court that she didn’t see the bat in her nephew’s hand, until the lash was fired.
It was proven that Budhan had the bat all along, and even after Ramesh fell to the ground, he continued to hit him.

The doctor who testified, Nehaul Singh, said that the post-mortem conducted showed that Ramesh was lashed three times, and that the lashes had to have been dealt with force because of the damage it caused to the head.

However, Budhan said he only hit Ramesh once with his bat, and that it was out of frustration, after a series of provocation he faced from the now deceased.
The jury gave a not-guilty verdict for murder, but a guilty verdict for the lesser offence of manslaughter.

Justice Singh said that he believes the jury was lenient in their verdict, because he was prepared to impose the life sentence.
Defence attorney Nigel Hughes pointed the Judge to the issue of provocation, and that his client was very young. Hughes said that Budhan had no previous interactions with the law, and that he was very remorseful. He posed the case of acting out of emotions, and long build-up of hate for the treatment he received from his girlfriend’s uncle.
When given the opportunity to speak, Budhan broke down in tears saying he was very sorry for what happened, and begged the judge for mercy. Justice Singh was unshaken by his tears, as he said that he doesn’t believe that Budhan is sorry for what he did, but rather, he believes he is sorry for himself.

The judge said even though he would often be lenient with youths, to give them a second chance, he would have given Budhan a life sentence since it was proven that his actions were premeditated and not instantaneous. As such, Justice Singh sentenced him to 25 years in prison. His relatives, who were present in the courtroom, burst into tears as they watched him being escorted to prison by police ranks.