Guyana: President Ali backs death penalty following 6-year-old Orlando’s murder

Guyana: After the six-year-old Orlando Jaikarran was killed by his father, Bharatt Jaikarran by throwing him into a canal in Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice. President of Guyana, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has called on authorities to introduce a serious assessment of the death penalty as an expected course of legal outcome against such heinous crimes.

In his recent interview on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, the President condemned the incident and the circumstances in which the child was killed, he stated that he had a communication with the Attorney General (AG), directing him to assess the matter, he also argued that such crimes should deal with a stronger response from the judicial system.

On being asked whether he supports the death penalty as a stronger response, he in response asserted that “one hundred percent”.

He also stated that the recent incident and other related crimes of this extreme level has triggered him to think whether the current penalties are effective enough to punish the criminal and give a stronger message to the society.

The President admitted that the human rights issues associated with the capital punishment but argued that there is a requirement to examine whether current penalties implicated against such crimes effectively reflect the importance of exceptionally heinous crimes.

The statement from the President comes after a 45-year-old, Bharatt Jaikarran, father of six-year-old Orlando Jaikarran, admitted to killing his son by throwing him into a canal, despite knowing that the boy could not swim.

Bharatt Jaikarran was taken by the police into their custody after the child was reported missing by himself in the police station on the basis of suspicion for harming his son, eventually after being investigated, Jaikarran himself directed the police towards Orlando’s dead body.

The father cited the reason behind this action, as he was informed by a local pujari that Orlando was not his biological son, which prompted him to cause this heinous crime. Jaikarran was a father of four children, he and his wife separated around two years ago. Three of the four children were staying with Jaikarran, whereas one child was residing with his mother.

The incident has drawn national attention, post-mortem of the body is expected to disclose the exact cause of death of the six-year-old child and judicial process is anticipated to commence in the future.