Sascha Wilson
Senior Reporter
sascha.wilson@guardian.co.tt
Although her family will forever be scarred by the brutal murders of her sister Tara Ramsaroop and her 14-month-old niece Shermaya Jada Motilal, Jassodra Rajaram yesterday wept tears of relief that their murderer had been sentenced to death.
An emotional Rajaram spoke with reporters at her Barrackpore home, one day after Justice Nalini Singh found Rishi Motilal, also known as “Cook Meat,” guilty at the end of a judge-alone trial.
The mother and child were found dead at Motilal’s home in Barrackpore on October 8, 2024. Ramsaroop, a mother of four, had been chopped multiple times, while the baby’s throat had been slit. The killings occurred weeks after Ramsaroop obtained a protection order from the police against Motilal, due to threats and harassment
With tears streaming down her face, Rajaram said, “I feel we get justice. But not everything they talked about my sister was the truth. I am very grateful and thankful to the judge. If I could just meet her, I would hug her and say, ‘Thanks very much for justice for my sister’. We never got justice from the police.”
Rajaram said her sister ended the relationship with Motilal seven months prior to her death and had made several reports to the police which were ignored.
“They (police) would say that was husband and wife matters, they will make up,” she claimed.
Surprised but grateful that the matter was completed just 16 months after the murders, she said, “I think as we are praying people, we got justice. All of my family - my aunts and everyone - we prayed for that moment to get justice...”
She added, “My sister did not deserve that. My family are content that we got justice.”
Noting that some families wait for years for justice, she said she was hopeful that other murder trials would also have a swift end to give closure to victims’ families.
Rajaram, however, was heartbroken that her family has been denied access to Ramsaroop’s nine-year-old son, who has been staying with Motilal’s family. She encouraged victims of domestic violence relationships to “get out.”
She said, “My sister wanted to work, achieve and accomplish. She endured enough. She came out of it and was happy to build her house, sit on her step and be at peace. Not knowing that was when her life was going to end.”
Rajaram also appealed to the police to treat domestic violence reports seriously. Despite the outcome of the matter, she was not sure whether her family would ever heal.
“For the rest of my life, I will be scarred. I will always have a broken piece in my heart. She and I were so close...It has been 16 months, and I feel it has been only yesterday.”
During the trial, Motilal claimed he had been provoked and later “blacked out.” However, Justice Singh rejected the defence, ruling that Motilal remained in control of his actions throughout the attack.
“I find that he experienced anger, hurt, jealousy, frustration and emotional distress but that he retained the capacity for purposeful and directed action at all material times,” Singh said.
She also rejected any suggestion of provocation in the killing of the child.
