SHAMEER ALLI was on Monday morning sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment by Justice Jo-Ann Barlow in the Georgetown High Court after he pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter for the June 8, 2013 murder of Shanaza Ramdatt.

His plea was accepted by the judge through his attorney Mark Conway.

The pensive Alli expressed remorse for his actions which led to the murder of his reputed wife. And during the sentencing, the judge took into account the use of a weapon (knife) and the domestic abuse for which she said a strong message was necessary for society. She noted that his actions were unacceptable.

Justice Barlow sentenced Alli to 25 years in total from which eight years were deducted for the guilty plea, three years and 10 months subtracted for time served and one year deducted for good behaviour in prison and attendance at religious classes.

State prosecutor Shawnette Austin in association with Tameika Clarke,told the court that the deceased,Shanaza Ramdatt called ‘Reshma’,was the victim of constant abuse by her reputed husband, Shameer Alli.She related that the night before the murder she(Reshma) slept at a neighbour’s house in the company of her brother and went home on the morning of June 8, 2013, after which a quarrel ensued between the couple at their Kuru Kururu home.

Austin told the court that shortly after the row, Ramdatt ran out the house holding her head while screaming for help. Austin added that at that point, the accused took a knife and began stabbing Ramdatt on her neck and hand,after which he ran into some bushes to hide.

Ramdatt’s lifeless body was found lying in a pool of blood while the accused tried to take his own life by slashing his throat but was taken to the hospital after which he was placed in police custody.

A post mortem performed by Government Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh gave the cause of death as multiple incised (15) wounds.