Sixty-year-old Jasodra Jagmohan who was initially charged with the murder of her husband yesterday pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Wearing a sling on her right arm, a frail Jagmohan has been attending the San Fernando High Court on a stretcher which could be transformed into a wheelchair since she was arraigned in July.
However, the State, represented by Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj SC, who received a fiat to prosecute, did not open the case to the jury.
When the matter came up again before Justice Althea Alexis-Windsor in the Fourth Assizes yesterday, the charge was read again to Jagmohan, who, after being assisted by a policewoman to stand, said, in a barely audible tone, “not guilty to murder, guilty to manslaughter.” After instructing the jury to return a not guilty verdict to murder and a guilty verdict to manslaughter, the judge told the jury the attorneys had been “working feverishly” behind the scenes on this matter.
The Penal woman is accused of killing her husband Jagindranan Jagmohan, 57, also known as Rex, on a date unknown between June 22, 2007, and June 26, 2007, at Clarke Road, Penal.
An autopsy revealed her husband was strangled. The judge thanked the jury for their service before discharging them. The matter was adjourned to Friday when the judge is hoping to receive certain reports, including the bio-social report.
It is also expected that on that day defence attorney Prakash Ramadhar and Michael Rooplal will make a plea in mitigation.