A 34-year-old Berbice man will spend the next 25 years in jail for the murder of his wife, 24-year-old Devika Narinedatt.
The judgment was handed down by Justice Navindra Singh to Suraj Veersammy.
He was originally indicted for the capital offense of murder back in 2020 but later opted to plead guilty to the lesser offense of manslaughter when he was arraigned at the high court.
Veersammy was arrested in April 2020, as a person of interest in the death of his wife. During questioning, he told detectives that Narinedatt had threatened to end their relationship. He told detectives that he felt hurt and infuriated and as such, attacked her.
He told the tale of how he attempted to hang himself while pleading with her to stay. He noted that the woman began hurling insults and prompted him to hang her instead.
Verasammy said that in a fit of rage, he struck his wife in the head. He recounted that she collapsed and started bleeding. He also recalled orchestrating a plan to make it look as if she had hung herself. But when that plan failed he returned later in the evening and stuffed her body in a barrel which he later dumped in a nearby trench.
Detectives on April 9, 2020, found the woman’s body with a bed sheet tied tightly around her neck. She was also found with abrasions on her left eye, left shoulder, left hand, legs, and stomach.
