THE father, who in 2018 stabbed his son to death at Foulis, East Coast Demerara (ECD) during a family dispute was on Tuesday sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.

Mohan Sookdeo, called “Wine”, 46, appeared before Justice Sandil Kissoon at the Demerara High Court for the capital offence of murder, but opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.

He confessed that on September 8, 2018, at Foulis, ECD, he murdered his son, 21-year-old Satesh Kevin Sookdeo.

Mohan was represented by attorney-at-law Maxwell McKay, while the state was represented by prosecutors Tuanna Hardy, Nafeeza Baig and Tyra Bakker.

According to reports, Mohan Sookdeo and his wife had an argument during which he grabbed her by the neck and began choking her at their of Lot 217, Fifth Street, Foulis, East Coast Demerara home.

Upon seeing this Satesh intervened. The father who was outraged at the time grabbed part of the remains of a louvre pane, broke it and stabbed the young man to the chest.
The autopsy was conducted by Dr. Nehaul Singh at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and listed Satesh’s cause of death as perforation of the lungs.

Prosecutor Hardy explained to the court that the Mohan brought his son into the world, and he was also the one to snatch his life away.

The prosecutor further explained to the court that the incident stemmed from domestic violence and Mohan was an alcoholic and would abuse his family.
She added that Satesh saved his mother during the incident, but unfortunately met his demise .

The state also called Mohan’s daughter Vishani Sookdeo to give a victim impact statement in court.

“He is my father and I love him, but he have [sic] to face the consequences,” the woman told the court.

Justice Kissoon said that the case was particularly disturbing, since it was a father who had taken his own beloved son’s life.

The judge also stressed that Satesh stood up and defended his mother, but was killed for his courageousness.

Finally, Justice Kissoon sentenced Mohan to 20 years imprisonment and ordered that the prison authorities deduct from the sentence,the time Mohan had spent on remand.