Brothers charged for beating

Brothers Rajesh Samaroo, 26, Deodath, 27 and Samraj, 29 of Esperance Village, California, were arrested by Couva police on Tuesday and charged with attacking Navindra Debidial, 18 and his father, Harry.

Since there was no court sitting on Indian Arrival Day on Wednesday, the brothers yesterday appeared before Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Ceasar to answer the charges of assault by beating and assault occassioning bodily harm.

The Samaroo brothers pleaded not guilty to the charge, but on the second charge, they were not called upon to plead because it was laid indictibly.

The brothers were represented by attorney Selwyn Ramlal who made a request for bail. However, police prosecutor Sgt Asraph Haspoodeen objected to bail because of the seriousness of the charges and the medical condition of the victims.

The prosecutor told the magistrate that the charges stemmed from a vendetta, in which death threats were made to the victim’s family. However, Ramlal told the magistrate he had seen the photos of the father and son in the newspapers. “I don’t want to trivialise the charges,” the attorney said, “but I saw the victims posed up in the newspaper.”

Magistrate Ayers-Ceasar said although one of the victims was treated and released, the other was warded at the San Fernando General Hospital. She remanded the three accused into police custody pending the outcome of a trace on them as well as a medical update on the condition of the victim.