By George Barclay
JUSTICE Franklyn Holder, presiding in the ‘Bunty’ murder trial in which Sherwin Barnwell, called ‘Reeya’, is on trial for the murder of  42-year-old Nohar Bahadur, called ’Bunty’, will this morning rule on  no-case submissions made by defence counsel Mr. George Thomas. The state, represented by Senior State Counsel and recently appointed Magistrate Miss Zamilla Ally, in association with Miss Dianne Kaulesar of the DPP Chambers, is alleging that the accused, Barnwell, had stabbed to death Nohar Bahadur between 24th and 25th December, 2006.
On the other hand, the accused, represented by Mr George Thomas in association with Attorney-at-law Miss Norma Lewis, is denying that he had unlawfully killed ‘Bunty’. He has also accused the police of manufacturing evidence to implicate him in the crime.
The prosecution had proved  that the deceased, Nohar Bahadur, had been living at Friendship, East Bank, Demerara in December 2006.
On Christmas Eve of 2006, he went to his relative to spend some time.  At about 9:00 pm., he left that relative’s house alive and well; and as Christmas Eve was turning into Christmas Day, he was found lying on a road in the Friendship area with injuries to the body.
He was taken to the Georgetown Hospital on Christmas Day, where he was pronounced dead.
The police conducted their investigations, and arrested and charged the accused with the murder.
Injuries were found on Bunty’s body when it was picked up from the roadside. Those injuries included a stab wound which could have been inflicted with a knife.
The doctor who performed the post-mortem examination said that the stab wound was the cause of death.
Prosecution witnesses testified that they had seen the accused slapped and stamped   ‘Bunty’. None of them could support the story about the stabbing that caused his death.
Justice Franklyn Holder will deliver his ruling this morning.