Man kills wife by slashing her throat

Fareeda Mohammed, at the start of her testimony, was asked by prosecutor Brent Winter to point out her father in the courtroom.

Mohammed’s father Fazal, 57, is before Justice Devan Rampersad, charged with the murder of his wife, Shalima Mohammed, 47, on November 6, 2004.

It is the prosecution’s case that after two days of quarrelling, Fazal Mohammed slashed his wife’s throat in their bedroom.

The couple lived at LP 231, Chin Chin Road, Las Lomas No 1, with their six children. Fareeda, according to Winter, was in the living room with her younger sister, Farisha — who celebrated her tenth birthday the day before — watching television when she heard her mother cry out, “Like you come to kill me now?”

Winter said the two girls ran to the home of their aunt Nisha Badal, who returned to the house with her nieces. There they saw Mohammed standing in front of the door, before he walked off. Shalima’s body was found lying face down on her bed with a sheet over her.

Her clothing and the bed clothes were drenched in blood.

Winter told the jury, on November 7, a search party went looking for Fazal. He was eventually spotted in some bushes in the Las Lomas No 1 area, but he ran off. He was eventually held and taken to the Cunupia Police Station. Winter said Fazal, in a statement allegedly given to police, admitted that he slapped his wife once or twice before he pulled a knife on her. He allegedly said he swung the knife in a rage and when he saw blood, he ran. He also complained that she had gone to the police.

An autopsy performed by pathologist Dr Hughvon Des Vignes said Shalima was stabbed in the shoulder and abdomen and had been slashed three times across the neck. She also had defensive wounds on both hands.

Mohammed was charged by Sgt Danny Ramlogan. Testifying yesterday, Fareeda, 26, said she lived with her parents, her three brothers and two sisters.

She said on the Friday evening, the family were preparing to go to mosque, as they were observing the Islamic month of Ramadhan, when her parents were quarrelling.

She said her mother stopped a police vehicle which was passing and the officers spoke to her parents.

The argument continued at the mosque. Family members, she said, intervened and after they returned home, her mother’s sisters, Rasheeda, Yasmin and Neisha and their husbands, came home. The couple was still quarrelling and Fareeda said her mother began to pack her clothes to leave. As her mother was doing so, her father was unpacking the clothes, she testified.

She said her father said his wife could not leave and “ran everyone who was there.” On the Saturday, she said her parents left for work, and after they returned home later that evening they again left to go to the mosque.

She said she and her sister were on the couch in the living room watching television when their parents returned home. Her mother, she said, ate the food she brought, and then went to her bedroom. Fareeda will return to court today to continue her evidence.

Also testifying yesterday were retired police photographer Brenton Mack and police draughtsman Sgt Gregory Hood.

Collin Selvon and Kenya Murray are defending Fazal, while Shelly Ann Gajadhar is also appearing with Winter for the prosecution.