Cane harvester gets 20 years jail time for killing wife

A 35-year-old cane harvester was on Monday sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for fatally stabbing his wife during a domestic altercation at their Rosignol, West Bank Berbice home in 2020.

Taijram Rahim was sentenced by  Justice Navindra Singh at the Berbice High Court.

Last month, Rahim was indicted for the capital offense of murder but he opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. He killed his wife, 28, on November 13, 2020.

During the sentencing hearing on Monday, the couple’s three sons’ impact statements were presented in court.

“I don’t know how to feel about my father anymore. I don’t know if I want to see him back,” one of the sons said in their statement.

However, the other son said that while they do miss their mother, they begged for their father’s release so things would go back to normal.

“I beg my three sons for forgiveness. I hurt them a lot. I made a big mistake in my life,” Rahim said after hearing his children’s impact statements.

Prosecutor Baig said that this case is yet another domestic violence matter in a society already overburdened by domestic violence issues.

She also highlighted that the couple’s three sons who were 8,10 and 11 were left traumatised after witnessing the crime.

Justice Singh in his sentencing remarks said that that case is a “sad situation”, especially for the children.

“On one hand, they feel great grief that their mother is dead. Because they’re young children, they also feel great grief that their father is incarcerated… In a moment, in a split second, three children lost their mother. So there has to be sanctioned,” the judge said.

Justice Kissoon sentenced Rahim to 20 years imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 15 years.

The News Room had reported that the couple and their three children had just arrived home from a relative’s birthday party when an argument ensued over allegations of infidelity.