Berbice murder case jurors visit Bath Settlement
THE jury in the murder trial at the Berbice Assizes, on Wednesday, visited an abandoned, cultivated plot at Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, where the  lifeless body of `13-year-old Kavita Panday was found afloat on September 8, 2008.
That was after State Prosecutor Donelle Weaver claimed that Claudette David, mother of the deceased, had seen her daughter and Rooplaal Abrahim riding towards their farm, minutes before the dead  teen was discovered in a canal.
Abrahim called Vijai, now aged 18, has pleaded not guilty to the allegation that he unlawfully killed his fellow villager.
In a rare exercise, the 12 members of the mixed jury were driven for several miles, from the High Court building in New Amsterdam to West Coast Berbice, to see the alleged crime scene.
The jurors arrived at the destination at 11:00 hrs, in the company of presiding Justice Dawn Gregory-Barnes, State Counsel Weaver, Defence Counsel Mursulene Bacchus and his associate Dridnauth Perry Gossai, the accused, several police ranks and court staff.
At the Bath Settlement location, one prosecution witness, David, pointed out her home and where she was when she saw the accused and her daughter while her reputed husband, Radesh Panday, who had identified the deceased body to Dr. V. Brijmohan, at Fort Wellington Hospital mortuary, indicated an area where they once farmed and where he had seen the slippers and cap  previously worn by his daughter.
Another witness, Seelall Jaipersaud showed the visitors where he had seen the corpse of the teenage girl floating.
Earlier, Detective Sergeant Gilbert Ross had tendered several photographs  of the crime scene.
In his evidence- in-chief, which is to continue,the policeman said, on arriving at the scene, he saw the dead body clad in a multi-coloured underwear, black tights and skirt which were by the knee.
The girl also wore a grey jersey and a multi-coloured shirt and bruises were visible on her abdomen, nose and lip, while a black and blue mark was under her left eye.
The trial is continuing.