Georgetown: A boat-builder Lennox Baharally and his 19-year-old apprentice Rondel Edwards, both of Region 2 addresses, appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on Tuesday, charged with murdering Mohammed Abdool Shameer on April 25 last at Jacklow, Pomeroon.
They were not required to plead to the charge, and were remanded to prison until August 15, when the case will be called before the Charity Magistrate.
Shameer had been the uncle of 24-year-old Baharally, and Baharally and Edwards are accused of killing him and burying his body in a shallow grave along the bank of the Moruca river in the Pomeroon.
The court heard that Shameer, a farmer, had left his home in a paddle boat at about 19:30h on April 25 to visit a friend, and was reportedly returning home when his boat was run over by a larger boat captained by Baharally, who had two other persons, including Edwards, in his boat.
It is alleged that after the collision had occurred, Shameer’s body was pulled out of the water and later buried in a shallow grave.
Lawyer for the accused duo, Attorney-at-law Jerome Khan, described the incident as a ‘boat mishap’ while criticizing a daily newspaper for pre-judicial reporting on the matter.
“The investigation process is being infected; this is a judicial system also,” he pointed out as he signalled his intention to file a High Court action and take any other course of justice.
According to the lawyer, Baharally was sailing the boat when the mishap occurred. He said his clients had rescued Shameer after the incident, but instead of taking the injured man to the hospital, they took him to a river bank.
Police Prosecutor Inspector Neville Jeffers said the police file is still incomplete; the post-mortem report and several statements are still outstanding.
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