Two Brothers on Attempted Murder Charges Bailed

The two brothers accused of attempted murder came to the aid of their sister who was allegedly being assaulted by her husband.

This is what the Ba Magistrates Court heard on Wednesday when the two appeared for their bail hearing.

Rajneel Kant Bhushan, 28 of Tavua Town and Roneel Vikash Chand, 32, of Rarawai, Ba, both faced charges of attempted murder of Krishnil Navit Prasad and breach of bail conditions.

They appeared before Magistrate Salote Nasedra.

During the bail hearing, Police Prosecutor Sergeant Vaciseva Marawa objected to bail on the grounds that the charge was serious and the accused persons may commit further offences and because the case was of public interest bail ought to be refused.

Iqbal Khan, who appeared for the two accused with Samuela Heritage, told the court that both men were at Prasad’s (their brother-in- law) house on July 17 at Wailailai in Ba, where the alleged incident took place for a family gathering.

During his submissions, Mr Khan brought to the attention of the court the circumstances when the alleged offence was committed.

He said the victim in this case, Prasad, allegedly assaulted his wife after he had received text messages that she was allegedly having an affair.

He further submitted that:

• Prasad dragged the wife off the bed she was sleeping on and allegedly assaulted her on the face and threw her on the wall which saw her sustaining injuries including a black eye and other bodily injuries.
• He then allegedly attempted to harm his child and then allegedly went berserk with a broken beer bottle and injured other persons that were present including both the accused.
• Both accused intervened when their sister called for help and they attempted to restrain Prasad. This resulted in Prasad falling and sustaining injuries from the broken beer bottles on the floor.
• Other people, who were present, were also allegedly injured by Prasad and their medical reports were obtained by the Police.

Mr Khan called Prasad’s wife in court and asked Ms Nasedra to note the visible injuries sustained by her and another person who was injured and was also present in court.

Mr Khan also told the court the two accused persons only went to assist their sister when she called for help.

He added that serious injuries were not the sole factor in granting and refusing bail, but the circumstances of the case as presented by him based on the disclosures in that Prasad was the author of his own misery.

Magistrate Nasedra accepted the four sureties provided by Mr Khan and granted strict bail conditions including relocation of Chand from Rarawai to Vutuni.

The matter would be called before the High Court in Lautoka on September 2.

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