The men who confessed to murdering Babita Sarjou will spend about two decades in prison before returning to society.
Both Anand Narine and Darrel Proton were this afternoon sentenced in the High Court by Justice Simone Morris Ramlall. Justice Ramlall sentenced Narine to 22 and a half years in prison, and Proton was sentenced to 18 and a half years in prison; both with time served.
Justice Ramlall in her decision took into consideration several mitigating and aggravating factors, which included the morbid circumstances of Sarjou’s death, and the fact that the men did not waste the court’s time by confessing to the crime.
Outside the courtroom, Babita Sarjou’s mother Champa Seenarine, was visibly dissapointed with the verdict. She told reporters that while she was pleased that justice was served, the verdict was inadequate. “This is a slap in the face of justice. My daughter was murdered and the penalty these men got is not enough,” Seenarine said.
It has been 12 years since Sarjou left her home to go to the Diwali motorcade on the evening of November 4, 2010 and never returned. Narine reportedly paid Pronton $50,000 along with a promise of a trip to Trinidad, in exchange for killing Sarjou.
Detectives say that it was Narine, who reportedly called her for them to have a night out. But investigators knew that something was wrong, and while revisiting the case six years later, the team of detectives came across a startling discovery.
In May 2016, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum and a team of detectives interrogated Narine, who reportedly confessed to murdering his wife and burying her in a shallow grave.
DNA samples taken from the remains later confirmed that it was Sarjou. Narine reportedly told detectives that Sarjou was strangled while in the front seat of his car by Pronton.