A 25-year-old man yesterday walked out of the High Court a free man, after a mixed jury found him not guilty of stabbing his wife to death in 2003.

 

Jaigobin Sukhlall, also known as 'Ronald', allegedly murdered Samantha Ganesh on October 5, 2003 at 36 Uitvlugt Pasture, West Coast Demerara.

 

Sukhlall was also found not guilty of the lesser count of manslaughter before Justice Rishi Persaud.

According to the facts presented by the prosecution, Sukhlall had stabbed Ganesh with a knife during an argument.

 

Senior Counsel Bernard De Santos had presented no-case submissions but Justice Persaud rejected it.

Justice Persaud later stated that State Counsel Satyesh Kissoon did make out a case for the accused to answer.

A post-mortem report revealed that Ganesh died from a perforated heart caused by a stab wound. However, a police forensic analysis revealed that there was no trace of human blood on the knife.

When Sukhlall led his defence on Monday, he told the jury that on the morning of the incident he left home for Cornelia Ida along with two of his friends. He was building a house in Cornelia Ida. After the day's work Sukhlall and his friends had some drinks. Upon his return home, his wife realised that he had been drinking and she got upset.

Sukhlall said his wife went into the kitchen and picked up their child. She then sat with her mom and sister and engaged in a conversation. At that point, he said, he told them that he would be going into his new house soon.

Ganesh then put the child down and the child began to cry. When the child cried, he said, Ganesh asked him why he didn't pick up the child. He said she became annoyed, picked up the child and started to beat him while he was trying to take the child from her.

He added that Ganesh's sister then stood up and told him to leave the child and Ganesh fell back in the chair, still refusing to give him the child.

Sukhlall said he then left for his mother's house. Minutes after he got there, he said, the police arrived and told him he was wanted at the station. Sukhlall was later charged with murder.