Rooplall Abrahim gets life imprisonment for killing Bush Lot couple
Murdered:
Devi Dianne Chamanalall
Murdered: Devi Dianne Chamanalall

DESCRIBING him as a serial offender who has the propensity to commit extreme criminal offences, Justice Brassington Reynolds imposed a life sentence on Rooplall Abrahim after he confessed to the brutal killing of a Bush Lot couple in 2016.
Abrahim, who was charged with murdering Arthur Doodnauth Rajkumar, aged 81 and his wife, 44-year-old Devi Dianne Chamanalall, opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. He will be eligible for parole after serving twenty-five years in prison.
Prior to imposing the sentence during a Zoom hearing at the Berbice Assizes late Monday afternoon, Justice Reynolds noted that during his twenty years as a judicial officer, he had never been exposed to the evidence of such a heinous offence.

Murdered: Arthur Doodnauth Rajkumar

“… dastardly, brutal, brutish… listening to the post-mortem report, for a while I thought I was back in school doing a Biology lesson… There is no redeeming feature… there is nothing we can put in support to the plea made by your lawyer.  You have become a serial offender … don’t know what may have taken you on this path. You have the propensity to commit extreme criminal offences,” said the judge.
The judge pointed out the gruesomeness of the crime and the fact that the victims were attacked and killed in their home.
“You have committed a heinous, gruesome, unprovoked murder. The victims were killed in the comfort of their home. The sentence of this court is life imprisonment. You will be eligible for parole after twenty five years,” Justice Reynolds said.

Flashback: Photo of Rooplall Abrahim, days before he was acquitted of the brutal murder of 13- year-old Kavita Panday. He now faces life in prison for the double murder of a Bush Lot Village couple

The accused expressed no regret and showed no sign of remorse when the sentence was handed down.
Earlier, prosecutrix Abigail Gibbs described in detail the wounds on the bodies of the deceased couple. Their bodies each bore over twenty incised injuries.
Rajkumar body displayed deep incised wounds across his head, back, shoulder, ear, and upper extremities. His 4th and 5th fingers on his left hand were hanging loosely, while the base of those fingers were completely fractured. His wife’s thumb and 4th finger on her right hand was severed. There were sliced wounds on her arm, forearm and legs resulting in several fractures. Her left ear was dissected. The couple died as a result of shock and haemorrhage due to multiple incised wounds.
The couple were at home when Abrahim and another entered the home.

According to a caution statement attributed to the now convicted man, he, along with others, had broken into the house, through a grill door, on January 9, 2016. Initially, they did not see anyone and had descended into an adjoining shop where they retrieved and drank some alcoholic beverages.
Shortly afterwards, the couple exited their bedroom and they were chopped after demands for gold and money were not met. During the act, the police were alerted but the men escaped.

Meanwhile, in her report, Probation Officer, Tena Rigby, highlighted that Abrahim has a criminal record. In 2008, he was a juvenile (aged 16 years) when he was accused of murder, and had spent one year in the Juvenile Detention Centre. In 2009, he was committed to stand trial in the High Court and was sentenced to four years in prison. After serving his sentence, his father took him to Suriname where he spent a year and had worked as a fisherman
According to Rigby, following his return to Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, Abrahim’s neighbours described him as a menace, who would associate with questionable characters. The couple was described as polite, friendly and underserving of such a death. The relatives of the deceased had called for the maximum sentence.

In his plea of mitigation, defence counsel, Ravindra Mohabir, asked the court to consider the time his client spent in prison when considering sentencing.
“I respectfully ask to take into consideration the early guilty plea and time spent in prison, which is equivalent to 7 years 3 months (based on calculated prison years), a hope of rehabilitation as the prison authorities described him as a respectful individual…and, from the onset, he assisted the police and gave a caution statement. He also was deprived the opportunity to complete his education as he had to assist his family, financially,” the attorney submitted.
Additionally, in 2008, Abrahim was acquitted of the murder of 13-year-old Kavita Panday. The girl’s body was seen afloat in a canal aback Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice.

Then prosecutrix, Rhondel Weaver, had stated that the mother of the alleged victim had seen her daughter and the accused riding towards her parents’ farm. She had ventured into the area to chase cows that had gotten into the farm.
After the girl had failed to return home, a frantic search was launched to find her and, within minutes, her battered body with tights, underwear and skirt below the knees, was discovered floating in a trench.

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