Skip to main content

Reply to "Marcus Bisram had Narinedatt murdered after he rejected his sexual advances."

=Continued=

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/10/22/nyregion/22guyana1/22guyana1-superJumbo.jpgPooja Pitam, the wife of Mr. Narinedatt, who was killed in Guyana after a party held by Mr. Bisram. Credit Elias Williams for The New York Times

In a basement apartment in the Bronx, Pooja Pitam lives with her parents, her older brother and her 18-month-old daughter, Aasimah. They share one bedroom.

Her husband, Faiyaz Narinedatt, worked as a carpenter and, as a Muslim, taught at the mosque next door to his house in No. 70 Village. In February 2016, Ms. Pitam arrived in New York with her parents and older brother; she was seven months pregnant. They were sponsored for green cards by her paternal grandfather. Mr. Narinedatt stayed behind in Guyana with their son, Afthab, 3.

Ms. Pitam said that soon after her husband’s death, members of Mr. Bisram’s family had offered her husband’s family bribes not to go to the police in Georgetown. The first sum, according to Ms. Pitam, was $50,000 ($10 million Guyanese). The next was $250,000 ($50 million Guyanese).

“I refused,” she said. “It can’t actually bring Faiyaz back. He was an only child. That money can’t comfort Faiyaz’s family.”

The lawyer for Mr. Bisram in Guyana, Sanjeev Datadin, said it was the opposite — that Mr. Narinedatt’s family had asked for money from Mr. Bisram’s family to stay quiet.

“That’s a lie,” Ms. Pitam said, shaking her head in response.

It was not until the first extradition hearing at the end of September that the two sides finally saw one another inside the Brooklyn federal courthouse.

Mr. Bisram’s friends and family numbered more than 40. Most were wearing business attire accented by yellow, in a show of unity. They filled four rows in the courtroom. Some of the 16 attending in support of Mr. Narinedatt’s side had nowhere but the jury box to sit. They wore white T-shirts proclaiming “Justice for Faiyaz.”

One supporter of Mr. Bisram testily confronted a Brooklyn Hindu priest who claimed to be on Mr. Bisram’s side but also appeared to support his critic, Lakshmee Singh, a Queens television personality who had organized the local Diwali parade in which the priest was planning to appear.

Ms. Pitam brought her daughter, who fussed while the lawyers presented their arguments.

When he entered the courtroom, Mr. Bisram did not at all resemble the coiffed image he has maintained on social media. His hair was uncombed and his eyes were bloodshot, brightening only when his family and friends waved to him.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/10/22/nyregion/22guyana12/22guyana12-superJumbo.jpgScenes from Little Guyana in Richmond Hill, Queens. Credit Elias Williams for The New York Times

 

=To be Continued=

FM
×
×
×
×
×
×