A CORRIVERTON fisherman has been jailed for 12 years for killing a man who had denied him a job.

Mulshankar Sukharan, also called ‘Greg’, pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter in the Berbice Assizes, last week Wednesday, when he appeared before Judge Dawn Gregory-Barnes on an indictment of murder.
On April 3, 2011, Sukharan unlawfully killed Krishnadat Kolandawel, also called ‘Sham’, of Number 79 Village Corriverton.
State Prosecutrix Ms. Renita Singh told the court that on April 3, 2011, Sukharan went to the home of Kolandawel, where he verbally abused the man’s wife, claiming that the now deceased refused to employ him as a worker.

Kolandawel, on receiving the report from his wife, went to the home of the accused, who verbally challenged him.
Kolandawel gained entry to Sukharan’s house by kicking and smashing a chair against the front door.
Sukharan armed himself with a knife with which he inflicted a wound on the man’s neck.
The men scuffled in the street, where witnesses saw Sukharan stabbing Kolandawel.
The accused got up, questioned the injured man as to whether he was all right, and after receiving a positive response, he walked away.
But Kolandawel got up, scaled a nearby fence and lay on the ground, where he subsequently died.
The Prosecutrix noted that the two men had a history of verbally abusing each other. At the time of the murder, the accused was 19, while the deceased was 40.
A post mortem report gave the cause of death as hemorrhaging due to a stab wound to the neck.
In a plea for leniency, Attorney-at-law Mr. Raymond Ali submitted that the deceased was the aggressor and that the accused tried to protect himself.
“There is evidence of provocation,” he argued.
Ali asked the court to find that there was genuine remorse. “After he realised what he had done, he asked the deceased if he was all right. He did not flee the crime scene, something people would expect him to do.”
He said remorse was also reflected in his guilty plea.
Prior to imposing the sentence Justice Gregory-Barnes noted that the incident was a classic case of a high degree of provocation, rather that self-defence. She said the court was forced to determine whether his response was reasonable. Sukharan was facing a 25-year sentence, however, the Judge deducted two years representing the time spent as a remanded prisoner, and an additional five years were deducted, due to the level of provocation which led to the unlawful killing.
In addition, a further six years were deducted for the plea of guilty to the lesser count, as he did not waste the court’s time, resulting in a balance of 12 years which were imposed on him.
Sukharan lived with his 72-year-old grandmother, Mohanie Dasraj, and when asked by the Court whether he had anything to say, replied, “I am sorry. I am begging for mercy”.

(By Jeune Bailey Vankeric)