Balram Bessessar, called Navin, a 49-year-old Labourer of Stewartville, West Coast Demerara, has been remanded to prison over the fatal stabbing of his 15-year-old stepson, Sudesh Singh, called Joel.

Bessessar appeared at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magistrate Court, before His Worship Magistrate Singh, where the charge was read to him.

Particulars of the charge alleged that on October 3, 2025, at the family’s Stewartville home, Bessessar murdered the teen.

He was not required to plead to the capital offence and was remanded to prison until October 10.

Reports indicate that the teen lived with his 35-year-old unemployed mother, Roshanini Surujballi and Bessessar in the lower flat of a two-storey wooden and concrete building.

According to investigators, the incident stemmed from an argument over a bicycle belonging to the Bessessar.

The misunderstanding reportedly began after the teen used the bicycle and caused the chain to slip.

During the altercation, the stepfather allegedly ran into the kitchen, grabbed a cutlass, and dealt several chops—about three—to the boy’s neck, causing him to collapse to the ground.

Bessessar then walked to the Leonora Police Station, where he confessed to the crime. When police arrived at the scene, they found Sudesh lying motionless under the house, face up and bleeding from the neck.

A cutlass believed to be the murder weapon was recovered near the body.