Hours after being denied bail by a magistrate on a charge of unlawfully killing a baby, Dr Ronald Budhooram was able to secure $250,000 approval bail through a High Court judge yesterday.
Budhooram, 60, was rearrested and charged with manslaughter on Wednesday, following the discovery by police officers of a new born baby in a freezer at his San Fernando office in July.
He was not called upon to plead to the charge when he appeared before San Fernando Senior Magistrate Cherril-Anne Antoine in the First Court. The charged alleged that on a date unknown between June 30 and July 10 at Naparima Mayaro Road, Cocoyea Village, San Fernando, Budhooram, a doctor for 35 years, did unlawfully kill baby Kemron Jurai, a child of Gail Cindy Sooknanan born on July 1, 2017. The charge was laid by Cpl Mohammed.
Sooknanan and her partner had taken the baby to the doctor’s office after he was born at their Sewlal Trace, Fyzabad home. They allegedly left the baby there and days later the baby’s body was found in the freezer. An autopsy revealed the baby died from complications due to pre-term delivery. The doctor was subsequently arrested, but released pending further investigations.
In asking for bail, attorney Subhas Panday, assisted by attorney Petronilla Basdeo, said his client was a chronic diabetic, his wife
passed away some time ago and he has two children. The magistrate refused to grant bail after she was told the doctor had been committed earlier this year on a 2013 charge of grievous sexual assault. Despite Panday’s request to grant exorbitant bail instead of remanding the doctor into custody, the magistrate said, “I’m sorry. He already has one serious matter for which he was committed to stand trial in the High Court and this is another serious matter.”
She advised him to apply to a judge in chambers for bail. The doctor’s immediately applied for bail before Justice Carla Brown-Antoine, who granted bail with clerk of the peace approval. The doctor has to return to court on January 11.