Hannah Mathura's parents in court charged with her murder, remanded to prison

SEVEN months after the skeletal remains believed to be those of Hannah Mathura were found in a shallow grave at the family’s home in Valsayn, her parents made their first appearance in court charged with her murder.

Andrew Mathura, 66, and his wife Alana Mathura, 63, appeared before Master Sarah de Silva from the Tunapuna police station on October 16.

It is alleged that on a day unknown, between July 8, 2017, and March 13, 2024, at Butu Road, South Valsayn, they murdered Hannah Mathura.

They were not called on to enter a plea, since the charge against them was laid indictably.

They were told if they met the requirements of the Bail (Amendment) Act 2024, they may apply for bail. Until then, Master de Silva remanded them to prison.

The amendment to the Bail Act, proclaimed by the President in July, allows a judge or master to grant bail for an indictable offence where the person charged “can show exceptional circumstances to justify the granting of bail.”

“Bail is only granted in exceptional circumstances. If you are able to meet the requirement an application is to be filed and listed on the next Friday after it was filed,” de Silva told the couple.

She also advised them they had 28 days to provide an alibi warning to the court or the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The prosecution has until October 28 to disclose initial details to the defence, and the police have to send their completed file to the DPP by January 15, 2025.

An indictment and evidence must be filed by April 16, 2025, or on April 23, the master will discharge the accused or apply sanctions on an application by the defence.

The defence was given until July 11, 2025, to file its evidence and alibi notice. Both sides have until September 16 and October 16, 2025, to file submissions. If either side needs an extension, they can apply to the court, supported by evidence before the March 25, 2026 status hearing.

A sufficiency hearing has been set for April 1, 2026.

The police prosecutor, legal officer Insp Ashley Mongroo, told the master there were 26 prosecution witnesses. Some 12 statements are already in hand and 14 outstanding. The evidence against the two also includes post-mortem and DNA reports, photographs, medical certificates, clothing and a piece of red cloth.

Mungroo also said there were three interviews from the accused, two from Mrs Alana Mathura and one from her husband, and the nature of the evidence included “utterances and witnesses' accounts.”

He admitted the evidence was “mainly circumstantial.”

Andrew Mathura was represented by attorney Tahirah Davis Gibson. His wife was represented by Steffon Boodooram.

The couple was charged on October 15 after homicide investigators received instructions from DPP Roger Gaspard, SC, earlier in the day.

Hannah Mathura, 18, was last seen in June 2017. Her remains were found in the backyard of her home on March 12. A relative allegedly told police she had been killed and buried there. The remains showed what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the skull.

The Mathuras were initially arrested two days after the remains were found, but a week later the DPP ordered their release and directed the police to continue working on the investigation into the teenager’s death.

Authorities faced difficulties in proving the remains were Hannah’s, but DNA test results in April helped them to confirm the identity of the remains by a process of elimination. A senior police officer explained to Newsday the results could not conclusively prove the remains were Hannah's, as there was no sample from her for comparison. The officer said from the information available, the police "deduced" the remains were hers.