TWO years after the brutal stabbing of Farida Khayum at her Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast home, her reputed husband was, on Tuesday, sentenced to serve 10 years in jail for the crime.

Last month, Devanand Narine appeared before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the Essequibo High Court for the capital offence of murder.

However, he opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter which alleged that, on May 16, 2019, at Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast, he unlawfully killed the 39-year-old woman.

On Tuesday, a probation report was read in court by a social worker, who described Narine as a “hardworking individual” who would normally get along well with family members and persons within his community.

The social worker said that, based on the investigation conducted within the Anna Regina community, it was revealed that Narine was a quiet and soft-spoken person who would usually imbibe and smoke cigarettes; however, that sometimes caused arguments in his family home.

According to reports emanating from the Timehri Prison authorities, Narine was a well-behaved prisoner, who was baptized while behind bars and was a member of the Prison of Hope ministry, the social worker added.

Justice Barlow, in sentencing Narine, told him that domestic violence continues to reign prevalent in society and it cannot be condoned. However, she gave him credit for his early guilty plea and his strive for rehabilitation.

In the end, the judge sentenced Narine to serve 10 years behind bars and ordered prison authorities to deduct the time he spent on remand.

She also ordered that Narine benefit from all counselling services available which would assist his reintegration into society after completing his sentence.

The State was represented by prosecutor Tiffini Lyken, while Narine was represented by attorney-at-law Latchmi Dindyal.

On the day in question, Narine and Khayum were at home when they got into an argument which quickly became physical. Reports are that Narine armed himself with a knife from the kitchen and stabbed his reputed wife several times about her body.

The police were summoned and Khayum’s lifeless body was discovered in the kitchen area. Narine was arrested and taken to the Suddie Hospital, after ingesting a herbicide.