Man faces murder charge with a smile

A 41-year-old labourer appeared before a Sangre Grande magistrate charged with the chopping death of his common law wife, Gwendolyn Sookhoo. Vishwannath Sharma, of Mc Shine Street, Sangre Grande, was all smiles as charges of murder were read to him by Magistrate Sherry-Ann Blake. He was not called upon to plead as the charges were laid indictably. Scores of Sangre Grande villagers including relatives of the dead woman, turned up at the court to get a glimpse of the man accused of the brutal murder of the mother of three. In the early hours of last Friday morning, Sookhoo was chopped to death at her Mc Shine, Street home following an altercation with the accused. She was rushed to the Sangre Grande District Hospital and later transferred to the Port-of- Spain General Hospital, where she died undergoing emergency surgery. The murder accused, who did not have representation, will reappear in the Sangre Grande Court on November 4.