– says he himself wants to know who did

AS both the State and Defence presented closing arguments on Thursday in the trial of Vindra Siriram, the accused once again denied murdering the mother of his three children, Shelly Ann Persaud.

While making an unsworn statement before Justice James Bovell-Drakes and a 12-member jury in the Demerara High Court, Siriram said: “I love my wife and my children a lot, and I’d like to know who killed her.”

His comment was a part of his statement whereby he gave a detailed account of events which led to the death of his reputed wife of nine years, who was found with her head submerged in a five-gallon bucket of water.
A summary of Siriram’s statement indicates that after coming home drunk on the night of June 9, 2014, he got into an argument with the deceased, who he said bit him on the right wrist.

He said that the scuffle which ensued led to their being parted by their daughter, and both sleeping in separate rooms.

Siriram said he awoke the following morning, only to find his children’s mother dead on the back stairs.

He said that on realising she was dead, he immediately went in search of his reputed wife’s sister, who lives just next door, to tell her what happened, and asked her to call the police while he told other persons residing nearby what he woke up and found.

He told the jury that after being taken into police custody for questioning, although he’d told investigators he was “uneducated”, he was subjected to a severe beating and forced to sign to a statement written by another officer.

Siriram’s attorney, Phillip Da Silva advised the jury that in making their final decision, they ought not to rely on assumptions, but allow the prosecution to provide substantial evidence.

He said that failing to do so, and should there be any doubts, they should not convict, as they would need to prove the case beyond all reasonable doubt.
Representing the State are Shawnette Austin and Seeta Bishundial, the latter of whom poked several holes in recent and previous statements made by the accused.
Bishundial opted to use the first statement made by Siriram to the police, whereby he admitted to getting into an argument with the deceased and later pushing her head into the bucket of water for 15 minutes.

According to the remainder of the statement, after the accused let go of the deceased, she was seen panting for breath, at which point he went to bed, only to wake up at around 02:00hrs and find her dead.

The State’s presentation read that Siriram committed the act between June 9 and 10 at the couple’s Friendship, East Bank Demerara home.

Some of the points put forward by the prosecution were that it was impossible for the deceased to have held her breath for so long, and that marks of violence on the deceased told of the length of time and force used to submerge her.

Bishundial also pointed out that the couple was known to fight very often; that domestic abuse is commonplace in Guyana; and that the jury need not be experts to “put the pieces of the puzzle together.”

At the end of the arguments from both sides, Justice Bovell-Drakes instructed the jury to return next week for a continuance of the trial.