Former Region Four Chairman Daniel Seeram has failed in his High Court bid to secure release from prison while awaiting sentencing for assaulting his ex-wife.
Justice Joy Persaud-Singh on Monday refused Seeram’s application challenging Magistrate Abigail Gibbs’ decision to remand him following his conviction. His request for bail was also refused.
Seeram, who serves as Coordinator of the National Border Patrol Unit, remains in custody until his sentencing hearing on November 2 at 10:30 a.m.
Magistrate Gibbs found him guilty of assault causing actual bodily harm on Friday at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court. The conviction arose from a September 11, 2023 incident involving his then-wife, Farzana Hamid, at their Cummings Lodge apartment.
Hamid told the court that she was awakened in the early morning by blows to her head. When she attempted to record Seeram, she said he grabbed her phone, hurled it against a wall, and threw it into a toilet.
She testified that the assault continued and that she scratched him while defending herself. Both parties later made reports at the Turkeyen Police Station.
Seeram disputed her account, claiming that she was the aggressor and that he had merely pushed her as he tried to leave.
In assessing the evidence, however, Gibbs found that Hamid’s injuries were consistent with her description of the assault and could not have resulted from a single push.
The magistrate also identified inconsistencies in the explanations offered by the defence. Suggestions that Hamid had fallen or caused her own injuries were not included in Seeram’s initial statement to police.
Although the court accepted that Seeram had also sustained injuries, it rejected his explanation of how they occurred and found that he had not acted in self-defence.
Following the guilty verdict, attorney Nigel Hughes urged Gibbs to allow Seeram to remain out of custody pending sentencing. He cited Seeram’s responsibilities with the border patrol unit and his consistent attendance at court.
The magistrate declined to reverse the remand decision. Monday’s High Court ruling leaves that order in effect. Seeram and Hamid have since divorced.
