By Alethea Grant | HGP Nightly News |
WELDAAD, WEST COAST BERBICE — Forty-five-year-old sugar cane harvester Bharrat Jaikarran was on Friday formally arraigned and remanded to prison for the murder of his six-year-old son, Orlando Jaikarran, as police prosecutors revealed in open court that the homicide investigation remains active and could soon widen to indict a second suspect.
Appearing before Magistrate Shareefah Parks at the Weldaad Magistrate’s Court, the indictable capital charge was read to the accused. Jaikarran was not required to enter a plea to the charge, which alleges that on October 15, 2026, at Waterloo, Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, he murdered his young son.
The arraignment marks a pivotal moment in a case that has shocked the country since the six-year-old’s decomposed remains were retrieved from the Waterloo drainage canal near the sea dam on October 19.
Court Proceedings: File Complete, Second Suspect Under Lens
Police Prosecutor Sergeant Garfield Edwards informed the magistrate that detectives had completed the primary case docket and secured legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to institute the capital charge against the father.
However, Prosecutor Edwards made a significant disclosure to the court:
- Active Secondary Investigation: Law enforcement ranks are actively probing the alleged criminal involvement of another suspect tied to the events leading up to the child’s demise.
- Remand Order: Magistrate Parks remanded Jaikarran to prison until November 12, 2026.
- Venue Transfer: The matter was formally transferred to the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court for report and fixture.
Emotional scenes unfolded outside and within the courtroom as Jaikarran’s mother and extended relatives broke down in tears as the accused was escorted in handcuffs by police ranks.
Accused Claims Innocence: ‘The Real Killer Is at Large’
Despite initial police reports detailing admissions made in custody, Jaikarran maintained his innocence while being escorted past reporters outside the court precincts:
“I want to really lay my problem… [the truth must come out]… and who do the act,” the visibly agitated father shouted, insisting that the true perpetrator remains free.
Divergent Confessions: Canal Drowning vs. Pujari Neck-Chop Allegation
The case docket contains divergent and chilling accounts provided by the accused during custodial interrogations:
- The First Video-Recorded Interview: Detectives allege that Jaikarran initially gave a detailed, video-recorded confession admitting that he took his non-swimmer son to the Waterloo Main Canal under the pretext of an early-morning fishing trip and threw him into the deep water, spurred by allegations from a spiritual practitioner that the boy was fathered by another man.
- The Second Statement Implicating ‘Pujari Srik-shun’: Investigators disclosed that Jaikarran subsequently provided an alternative version of events, alleging that a religious figure, identified by the accused as Pujari Srik-shun, directed him to take Orlando to the secluded canal and lay the child down on the embankment. Jaikarran claimed that the pujari then inflicted a chop wound to the six-year-old’s neck.
- Post-Mortem Limitations: A forensic post-mortem examination performed on the recovered body was unable to ascertain a definitive medical cause of death due to the advanced state of decomposition when the remains were pulled from the canal after days in the water.
With regional crime scene ranks and detectives pursuing leads regarding the alleged actions of the religious figure, the investigation continues to expand, as prosecutors prepare to serve witness statements when the matter returns to the Fort Wellington Magistrate’s Court next month.
