September 16 ,2021
A Port Mourant man who was wanted for the attempted murder of his wife was thwarted in his bid to escape when US authorities at the JFK Airport in New York denied him entry and sent him back to Guyana where he is now in the custody of the police.
Sandrama Roma Raju
Ganesh Sheocharran’s wife, a Corentyne lab technician is presently at the New Amsterdam Public Hospital in a critical condition after allegedly being set on fire by her husband during the wee hours of Monday. She is said to have sustained burns to 98% of her body.
Sandrama Roma Raju, 29, who is a Medical Laboratory Technician attached to the Port Mourant Hospital, was rushed to the same facility after the incident at the couple’s Lot 1 Miss Phoebe, Port Mourant, Corentyne house. She was subsequently transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital.
Her father, Subramanie Raju, 60, of Number One Public Road, Corentyne, explained, that his grandson who was staying with the victim (his aunt) informed him of the incident.
According to Raju, he was told that his daughter and her husband were engaged in a heated argument that started just around 9 pm on Sunday during which she threatened to separate from Sheocharran, 27, or kill herself. After the man would not allow her to leave, she allegedly doused herself with kerosene oil.
It was then that Sheocharran allegedly set the woman on fire. Raju relayed that he was told that Sheocharran did not attempt to extinguish the fire but instead “he stand up and wait till she burn.”
The man said that another relative who resides nearby had to offer assistance.
He said, “She must be get passion and throw the kerosene”, adding, that he does not believe his daughter had any intention of harming herself.
The woman and Sheocharran share a four-year-old daughter who was asleep during the incident.
Following the incident, Sheocharran fled the scene and went into hiding after which he made attempts to flee to New York where his parents reside. On Tuesday evening, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) received information that the man was on board a flight to New York causing them to immediately reach out to the immigration authorities at JFK Airport.
The GPF also issued a wanted bulletin on Tues-day evening for the man which resulted in the immigration authorities at JFK detaining Sheocharran and placing him on a flight back to Guyana.
Yesterday morning, a statement from Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum said that the man boarded a flight that left Guyana at 5.26 pm on Tuesday. How-ever, he was denied entry to New York and placed on a flight back to Guyana, where he was placed under arrest as the investigation into the matter continues.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that it was Blanhum who was furnished with the information that the man had boarded the flight and who acted to ensure that the man was nabbed and returned to Guyana to face the full force of the law.
The US Embassy here also hailed the cooperation between the two countries which led to the arrest of the suspect, as it announced the return of the wanted man.
“The subject had attempted to flee Guyana’s law enforcement on a plane bound for JFK Air-port on Monday, September 14. Through cooperation among the regional security offices of both Guyana and Trinidad Tobago, the Guyana Police Force Criminal Investigation Department, U.S. Custom and Border Protection, the U.S. Marshal Service and Caribbean Airlines, Mr. Sheocharran was denied entry upon arrival in New York and sent back to Guyana, where he remains in police custody.”
US Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch also praised the operation, saying “it is this kind of collaboration that will make our region safe for all Guyanese. Congratulations to all who were involved, as the rule of law is our collective responsibility.”
Black and blue marks
Meanwhile, Raju’s mother, Sarswattie Jailall also known as “Anita”, 53, of Number One Road, Corentyne, relayed, that in the past she had noticed “black and blue marks” on her daughter’s arm and about her body. “But when me ask she, she does say she walk into something or knock she self”, the emotional woman said.
According to the mother, Raju had separated from the man several times in the past “but he does go to her work and wait for her and she does feel bad to cause one problem in front the people she does work with and she does go with him and then she does come collect she things and go back with him.”
According to information gathered, just over one year ago Sheocharran had assaulted Raju and she required medical care. Her parents said they were unaware whether she had ever filed a police report against the man. They said she would not have wanted anyone to know about what was transpiring due to her job.
The woman said that Sheocharran had always been possessive over her daughter. She recalled that over the last two weeks, her daughter’s attitude towards them had changed.
“She been stop talk to us and she get a room in our house since she one lil girl that she does buy her things and keep them, she a come collect them things and na even talk because like he a control she”, the mother relayed.
She pointed out that about one week ago Raju visited their home and did not speak to her only brother who she shared a close bond with and they had found this to be odd. “Her brother start cry and say he ain’t know why she not talking to them but she been a go through her own thing”, Jailall said.
An emotional Jailall said that it pains her heart to see her daughter in the condition that she is in. She remains in a critical state. The family was also told that if Raju was to make a full recovery she would be “scarred for life” due to the burns she sustained.
Raju’s parents yesterday also praised the Guyana Police Force for their efforts in ensuring that the man was nabbed as her father stressed that he wants to see the man held accountable for his actions “and face justice.”