Murder accused claims police licks

Murder accused Andre “Bagoo” Seepersad yesterday claimed he had been assaulted by the police, when he appeared in court charged with killing 56-year-old polio victim Donawattie Jadoonanan. Seepersad, 29, a labourer, of Debe, stood expressionless as acting Deputy Chief Magistrate Rajendra Rambachan read the murder charge to him in the San Fernando First Court.

Yesterday, Attorney Lisa Singh, who appeared for Seepersad, together with Giselle Landeau, told the court upon his arrest, her client complained of being assaulted by police. She said Seepersad asked to be taken for medical treatment. The charge laid against Seepersad read that on August 5, 2012, at Ramsamooj Trace, Debe, he murdered Jadoonanan. The charge was laid indictably by PC Charles of the San Fernando Homicide Bureau.

Rambachan asked court prosecutor Ramdath Phillip for a progress report on the prosecution’s file in the matter.  Phillip said: “The file is being finalised. Witness statements are still being taken before being sent to the DPP’s (Director of Public Prosecutions) office.” Seepersad also asked for legal aid, and Rambachan told police to take him to sign the paperwork. He will reappear in court on September 12.

A second suspect in Jadoonanan’s murder, a woman, was released on Tuesday.  Jadoonanan, of Ramsamooj Trace, was found dead by her neighbours with marks on her neck on August 5.  She suffered from polio and lived an isolated life. Some jewelry was also missing from her house. Villagers found some of Jadoonanan’s clothing and jewelry in an abandoned track leading from her house. An autopsy by pathologist Dr Eastlyn McDonald Burris at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, concluded that she was strangled.