Dwarka “Dave” Gangadin has been committed to stand trial in the High Court for the murder of his wife, Bridgette Gangadin. At the hearing, which was held at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court on June 24, Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus ruled that a prima facie case had been made out against the accused.
This was despite the absence of Trinidad-based pathologist Dr Hubert Daisley, hired by the woman’s family. He failed to show up to be cross examined by Gangadin’s lawyer, Bernard De Santos.
The matter is expected to be heard in the High Court during the next sitting of the Demerara assizes.
The body of Bridgette Gangadin, 30, of 3 ‘E’ Lusignan public road, East Coast Demerara, was found along the Vigilance public road, also on the East Coast Demerara, with her head crushed.
Dwarka Gangadin was arrested and charged based on the results of a second post-mortem examination conducted by Dr Daisley, which revealed evidence of strangulation. The pathologist, who also teaches at the University of the West Indies (UWI), was hired by the dead woman’s parents and other relatives as they were not satisfied with the results of the first post-mortem conducted by government pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh. Dr Singh had given the cause of death as crush injuries to the head caused by a wheel.
News of the incident gripped the nation, as family members from both sides feuded over the custody of the children and Bridgette’s body. Her family was later successful in being granted an order from the High Court to have her body cremated.
Dead: Bridgette Gangadin
Gangadin’s relatives wanted a burial, and had expressed the notion of conducting a third post-mortem examination on Bridgette’s body to rule out the findings of Dr Daisley. However, it was never done, and Bridgette was cremated.
On June 24, the relatives of Bridgette expressed relief that their efforts to get justice seemed to be bearing fruit. However, the deceased woman’s sister, Natasha Bharrat, told Guyana Times International that the family had practically given up because the experience of going to court almost every week was emotionally exhausting.
Bharrat added that the family felt they were spending money in vain. She noted that every time Dr Daisley had to come to Guyana, the family had to find money for his accommodation, travel and other expenses. Dr Daisley was in Guyana two weeks ago, and the family had to find Gy$500,000 to foot his expenses.
She added that this was a burden on the family in the name of justice.
The family could not afford to bring Dr Daisley for the hearing on June 24, but incidentally, the Professor could not come because of other personal reasons.
Bharrat said her mother and father are still crying over the loss of their older daughter. The pain is even more acute since they do not see their grandchildren often. The children live just a few houses away in Annandale.
After the incident, there was a mini custody battle for the children. It was later agreed that the children would stay with the relatives of their father. The couple had three children, aged 16, 14 and 12. The 16- year-old resides in the United States and does not speak to his mother’s family because of what he was told by his father’s relatives. The two younger boys visited their aunt a few days ago, but only for a few hours. Bharrat related that the family has to go to court two to three times a week from 09:00 hours to 16:00 hours, and sometimes the case is put off, frustrating them. However, they are now hopeful that, with the trial at the High Court, justice will be served.
Comments are closed.