After a trial which lasted more than one month at the Berbice Assizes, a woman and her friend were found guilty of murdering her husband, Abdool Shakeel Majid in 2012.
Majid’s wife, Hemwattie Abdulla, also known as “Annie” and her friend, Seerojini Permaul known as “Usha”, 49, were accused of unlawfully killing Majid, a US citizen, whose battered body was discovered on the Number 63 Beach, Corentyne on April 26, 2012.
Special Prosecutor Ganesh Hira represented the State while Attorneys-at-Law Mursalin Bacchus and Arud Gossai represented Abdulla and Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes represented Permaul.
Majid and his wife had arrived in Guyana in April 2012 for a two-week vacation. However, five days later, Majid’s battered body with the scalp missing was found on the Number 63 Beach. When the man’s body was found, Abdulla had already returned to the United States. When relatives enquired why he did not return, she told them that her husband was enjoying himself in Suriname and that he had urged her to return home as her daughter was ill. However, she was arrested after she returned to Guyana when her husband’s body was found.
During the trial, the court heard that bloodstains and sand were found in the trunk of the car that the couple had rented. Detectives had also retrieved Abdulla’s driving permit from the car.
The court found that Abdulla murdered her husband for the money which he had received after an accident in the US and got Permaul to assist her in executing the plot.
The women were both found guilty as the trial concluded at the Berbice Assizes on Tuesday. Justice Sandil Kissoon will pass sentence on March 29, 2018 at the Berbice High Court.
