Two to hang for murder

IN PASSING the death sentence on two Rio Claro men, Justice Herbert Volney said he hoped the executioners ensured they were hanged because of the “sheer cruelty” with which their victim met his death.

Justice Volney made the remark as he read the death sentence to Kamal Pooran and Ramzan Asgarali after a 12-member jury found them guilty of the murder of Rio Claro taxi-driver Surujbally “Billy” Mohan. He said: “Before I impose the mandatory death sentence upon you, I want to express my hope that those who are responsible to carry out the execution of the court, will take steps to ensure that having regard to the facts exposed in this trial, of the sheer cruelty of the death, that the death sentence is in fact carried out on both of you”. As the verdict was read around 4.20 pm in the San Fernando First Criminal Assizes, Pooran bowed his head and shut his eyes, while Asgarali stared stonefaced at the judge.

According to Mohan’s sons, their father, known as “Uncle Billy”, used to transport Pooran and Asgarali to school. Three days after Mohan, 62, was reported missing by his family, he was discovered murdered in the Rio Claro forest. His body was found half-naked and hog-tied to a cocoa tree, and a post-mortem concluded that he died due to strangulation. Over the month-long trial, the jury heard evidence from 12 State witnesses, while the accused testified in their own defence. After a near five hour summary of the trial by Justice Volney, the panel deliberated for almost two hours in the jury-room.

Noting it was a hard decision to reach when young people were involved, Justice Volney commended the jury for taking the time in arriving to their decision. The judge sent a message to the mothers of both accused seated in the public gallery. He said: “I know it is hard for mothers of the guilty to be in court listening to evidence and to think they have failed. But they have not failed. It is bad company that has put them there”. Mohan’s three sons, Balraj, 31, Mewalal, 40, and Rajkumar, 44, who had attended the trial became emotional upon hearing the verdict. Balraj said: “Society got its debt, not the Mohan’s family because we still don’t have our dad”. Rajkumar added: “We got justice because he was a good human being and what they did was a dastardly and despicable act”. The three men thanked the investigating police officers and the witnesses who assisted in the case.