The Provincial Court will hold the trial for the murder of Vijay Chandru Chugany between this Monday and Wednesday, which took place in August 2009. The session was going to be held in March in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, but it was suspended so that it could take place in Lanzarote, given the high number of people who will have to testify.
The trial will begin on Monday at 10:30 a.m. in the Arrecife Courts. For the defendant, Kumar Parmeshowar Aswani, the Prosecutor's Office is asking for 26 years for an alleged crime of murder and another of robbery. According to the indictment, the detainee inflicted "at least 71 stab wounds" on Vijay Chandru, causing his death.
Kumar Parmeshowar, who had no criminal record, has been in pre-trial detention for this case since August 21, 2009. In addition, an extension of the pre-trial detention was decreed on July 28, 2011. According to the Prosecutor's Office, the defendant picked up the victim on August 20, 2009 in his vehicle, near the Gran Castillo hotel, in Playa Blanca.
The Public Prosecutor's Office maintains that the defendant had previously arranged with Vijay Chandru Chugani to "carry out a commercial transaction for the purchase and sale of gold." The defendant was going to put this man in contact with another person who was interested in selling gold. The victim was going to buy this amount of gold for a value of 60,000 euros, which he "carried in cash."
After picking up this victim in his vehicle, the defendant went to Arrecife, specifically to the industrial area known as Arrecife Puerto Industrial Park, and parked the vehicle. At that moment, according to the Prosecutor's Office, a "heated discussion" took place inside the car.
"The defendant, in order to seize the money, attacked Vijay Chandru Chugani by surprise, with a 7.5-centimeter blade knife, eliminating his victim's ability to react to defend himself. He then got out of the vehicle and, with the intention of ending his life or knowing that he could cause his death, and with the purpose of causing him unnecessary suffering, he continued stabbing him, inflicting at least a total of 71 stab wounds," according to the indictment.
Specifically, according to the Prosecutor's Office, "he inflicted ten stab wounds on his face, three on his neck, 21 on his chest and 29 on his abdomen." "He caused his death by hypovolemic shock by severing the superior vena cava with one of said stab wounds," the Public Prosecutor's Office insists.
In addition, the Prosecutor's Office maintains that the defendant searched the corpse and "seized 14,130 euros in cash." Subsequently, he left the scene in the vehicle. Finally, the defendant appeared at the National Police Corps Station in Arrecife, where he entered and told the agents that he believed "he had killed a friend."
