Less than three hours after pleading not guilty to the 2010 murder of Babita Sarjou, her ex-husband Sharnandand Narine, called “Anand”, and co-accused Darel Pronton called “Yankee” changed their pleads to guilty.
Narine of Seaforth Street, Campbellville, Georgetown, and Pronton of Broad Street, Charlestown were indicted for the capital offence before Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the Demerara High Court.
The duo had denied that between November 4-5, 2010 they murdered Sarjou, a mother of one.
However, the pair later reappeared in court less than three hours later and opted to plead guilty to the capital offence.
The charge was reread and the pair confessed to the crime.
Narine is represented by attorney-at-law Siand Dhurjon while Pronton is represented by attorney Nigel Hughes and his associates. The State is represented by prosecutor Muntaz Ali.
Sentencing was deferred until February 6, 2023, when a probation report is expected to be presented.
The New Room had reported that on November 4, 2010, Sarjou reportedly left her Timehri, East Bank Demerara home, informing her mother that she was going to meet her husband, Narine and their son at the Kitty Seawall to view the annual Diwali motorcade.
When she did not return home that night, her mother became worried and filed a missing person’s report.
After many months of searching and treating the case as a missing person, the case was eventually closed. However, in 2016, with new information, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum re-opened the case, treating it in this instance as a homicide.
Following new investigations into the matter, Sarjou’s estranged husband was further questioned and he subsequently led the investigating team to a shallow grave which had been dug in his own backyard.
Further probing also revealed that Narine had paid Pronton $50,000 and had promised him a trip to Trinidad if he killed Sarjou.
