Six months jail for tomb raiders; woman released on $50k bail

Two men who are accused of breaking into the tomb of 19-year-old Vishnu Samaroo appeared at the Albion Magistrate’s Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to stealing a cellphone from the deceased.

Roopchand Thomas called ‘Lil Shawn’, a 19-year-old labourer and Leon Scott, 25, both of Hampshire Squatting Area, Corentyne Berbice, appeared before Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh.

They pleaded guilty to the simple larceny charge and were sentenced to six months imprisonment.

Meanwhile, Thomas and Scott were also charged jointly with Shantee Bhudram, 27, of Hampshire Village, with the offence of damage to property.

They were not required to enter a plea and Bhudram was released on $50,000 bail.

It is alleged that the trio broke into the tomb between February 15 and 16, causing damages valued at $130,000.

They all have to return to court on March 8.

The Prosecutor told the court that Bhudram saw when the father of the deceased placed valuable items in the casket and she was the one who relayed that information to Thomas and Scott.

Samaroo died in January this year after he had been battling cancer for some time. The thieves broke into his tomb and dragged the corpse of the teen several feet away. A cellphone and jewellery were said to be stolen from the corpse.