The other suspect in the kidnapping of Dr. Rudradeva Sharma and Dr. Prem Vijay Naidoo is expected to be charged and may face a San Fernando Magistrate, today.
The 17-year-old minor has been in custody at the Child Protection Unit (CPU) in South Oropouche, since being discharged from the San Fernando General Hospital, pending further inquiries.
Investigators have been given instructions by the Director of Public Prosecutions to charge the teenager. However, he is confined to a wheelchair. Reports are that his mother has been allowed to help him bathe and administer his medication.
He is likely to appear in the San Fernando Magistrates Court sometime today.
The suspect sustained serious injuries when Dr Sharma's sports utility vehicle crashed on the highway following the doctors’ abduction. Dr Sharma and one of the suspects—19-year-old Akeem Marine—succumbed to injuries sustained in the accident.
The other suspect, 19-year-old Antonio Francois, appeared in the San Fernando Magistrates Court on January 23rd charged with six offences, including the murders of Dr Sharma and Marine, two counts of robbery and two counts of kidnapping. He was charged by WCpl Bassarath.
The charges stemmed from an incident on January 15th, which occurred after the doctors had finished their shift at the San Fernando General Hospital. They reportedly were on Rushworth Street Extension in San Fernando when the three suspects, armed with a firearm, accosted them.
The doctors were robbed and forced into the trunk. The suspects sped off in the vehicle. Upon reaching near the Macaulay flyover along the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway around 1.50 am, the vehicle flipped several times and crashed.
38-year-old Dr. Rudradeva Sharma died on the scene while Akeem Marine died at hospital.
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Story by SASCHA WILSON