“I want to say I’m sorry about the whole situation. I should have known better,” Ravindra “Ravin” Ramdeen told the Demerara High Court on Wednesday.
He made the statement before being sentenced to 21 years and four months in prison for the 2020 murder of his partner, 53-year-old Merlyn “Jean” Singh.
Ramdeen, 57, of Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara, pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced by Justice Priscilla Chandra-Hanif at the High Court in Demerara.
The court heard that Ramdeen and Singh were in a relationship and that the fatal incident occurred between December 10 and 11, 2020, at Singh’s home at Lot 415, Eighth Street, South-East Cummings Lodge.
According to the evidence outlined by the judge, the couple initially engaged in consensual sexual activity. Afterward, Ramdeen wanted to have sex with Singh again, but she refused.
The refusal led to violence, with Ramdeen grabbing Singh and causing her to strike her head. He then placed his hands around her neck to prevent her from calling out and had sexual intercourse with her while choking her.
After the assault, Ramdeen left the house without seeking assistance for Singh, who was unconscious. Her lifeless body was later discovered in her bedroom.
A post-mortem examination found that manual strangulation and head trauma contributed to her death.
During sentencing, defence attorney Ronald Bostwick asked the court to consider Ramdeen’s guilty plea, personal circumstances, lack of previous convictions and remorse.
He also pointed to Ramdeen’s difficult upbringing and his history of steady employment, noting that he had most recently worked as a security officer.
Ramdeen, a father of four, told the court that he had spent years in prison trying to rehabilitate himself and become a better person.
He appealed for leniency, saying he loved his family and wanted an opportunity to return to society and be a responsible father.
Singh’s brother, meanwhile, described her as a loving and caring person and said it was painful knowing that Ramdeen, who was acquainted with the family, had raped and killed his sister.
Prosecutors Aleria Heywood and Nelissa Peterkin urged the court to impose a substantial sentence, stressing the seriousness of the offence and the sexual violence involved.
They rejected Ramdeen’s account that Singh enjoyed being choked.
Justice Chandra-Hanif said the case involved a violation of Singh’s bodily autonomy and her right to refuse sexual activity.
She stressed that sexual and fatal violence required a strong sentence and that a person’s refusal of sex must be respected.
The judge used 35 years as the starting point, deducted three years for mitigating factors and then applied a one-third reduction for Ramdeen’s early guilty plea.
The final sentence was 21 years and four months, with time already spent in pre-trial custody to be deducted by the prison service.
