Death by cricket bat: Youth found guilty of manslaughter

Twenty-two-year-old Jonathan Budhan was on Friday convicted of manslaughter by a 12-member jury who found him guilty of beating 40-year-old Ramesh Manbodh to death with a cricket bat in 2016.

According to reports, during the year 2016, Budhan was 19 and was involved in a relationship with Manbodh’s 16-year-old niece.

It is alleged that on October 25, 2016, there was a scuffle between Manbodh and Budhan after the man objected to him being in a relationship with his niece because of the age difference.

Budhan armed himself with a cricket bat and dealt Manbodh several lashes to his head. Manbodh was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital but died days later.

Budhan, formally of Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara, was on trial before Justice Navindra Singh at the Demerara High Court for murdering Manbodh.

The jury, after deliberating for over two hours, found Budhan not guilty of the offence of murder but guilty for the lesser offence of manslaughter.

Budhan was represented by Attorney Nigel Hughes while Tuanna Hardy and Abigail Gibbs lead the State’s case.

Attorney Hughes requested for a probation report to be done on his client; Justice Singh accepted the application and deferred sentencing to June 7, 2019.