"Why did you do this? You have a girlfriend."
At the hearing of the alleged murder 18-year-old Risaan Udayakumar in St Albans Crown Court, it was alleged he was stabbed by his girlfriend’s teenage brother when he found him hiding in their garage.
Udayakumar, from Wembley, was in a secretive relationship with the 19-year-old sister of the accused.
On the evening of Tuesday, July 10, 2018, the 16-year-old brother upon returning home unexpectedly, realised someone was with her in their house located in The Avenue, Watford.
The brother immediately began searching the house, first starting with his sister’s bedroom and then descending into the garage where he found Udayakumar hiding in a corner.
He then allegedly attacked and stabbed Udayakumar fatally, which subsequently led to his death at Watford General Hospital after he suffered serious injuries.
This stabbing took place when the brother was 16. He is now 17-years-old and cannot be named for legal reasons.
The Fatal Stabbing
Prosecutor Micheal Speak told the court that the parents of the siblings were away on holiday at the time of the alleged murder and how they had given strict instructions to their teenage children not to allow anyone, including friends to the house.
Mr Speak also added that the parents had informed adult relatives to regularly check the house and “to keep an eye” on their children.
The court heard that due to the “strict views” of the parents regarding having relationships outside marriage, a common trait within the British South Asian communities, their daughter, who was studying at university, kept her romance with Risaan a secret.
However, she did introduce him “just as a friend” despite being in about a four-month relationship with him.
Due to the fear of her parents trying to “discourage the relationship” if they ever found out, the daughter made sure they did not find out about her relationship with Rissan.
Mr Speak told the court that despite the parental rules imposed on the siblings, the daughter set-up a date with her boyfriend and some other friends to come over to her house to watch football on television on July 7, 2018.
On this day, Risaan did meet her brother and they pumped fists in a friendly manner, possibly under the impression he was just a friend of his sisters’.
Three days later, the sister of the accused arranged to meet Risaan Udayakumar again. She greeted him at Watford Railway station on July 10, 2018, and walked him back to her house, knowing that she was alone and her brother was not at home.
She invited Risaan into her home and they began to spend time together.
In the evening, an uncle came to check on the house and the siblings, so, she told Rissan to hide in the garage, until he left.
Mr Speak told the court that internal doors were all lockable for security purposes. In addition, the daughter had her own bedroom and bathroom.
Then, Rissan and she were back together, in her bedroom, after locking the internal doors.
About thirty minutes later, the couple heard a door in the house being knocked really hard.
Reacting to the unexpected arrival of her brother, the sister quickly directed Rissan to hide in the garage again, to avoid her brother finding him in her bedroom.
Mr Spark said:
“As soon as she saw him it was clear to her that he was very angry and he pushed her out of the way.
“He was clearly looking for someone so he must have suspected she must have someone in the room.”
The brother angrily began to shout, saying: “Where is he… Where is he?” and “Who is with you?”
At this point, the brother frantically started his search in her bedroom and bathroom, Mr Speak told the jury:
“Having searched the bedroom and bathroom and having failed to find Risaan, the defendant went into the garage and there he found Risaan, who was down in a corner at the front of the garage.
“He was sitting down in a corner by the front door.”
Then as the sister followed her brother into the garage, she saw her brother attack her boyfriend and ‘hitting’ him as Risaan stayed crouched down just on the garage floor, just raising his arms to protect his face.
Her brother screamed at Risaan angrily saying: “Get out of the house, what are you doing!?”
The sister saw “the look of fear” in Risaan as her brother continued his raged attack. She did not know at all that her brother had a knife in his hand, explained Mr Speak:
“When she saw her brother hitting Risaan several times, he was, in fact, stabbing him with the knife.”
After the sister tried to stop her brother and get in between the two, she witnessed blood coming from Risaan’s shirt, his mouth and blood forming a pool on the garage floor.
At this point, she realised that her brother had stabbed Rissan and actually saw the knife in her brother’s hand.
The jury heard that Rissan had sustained two fatal stab wounds on the upper side of his chest near his armpit.
It was a passerby who called the emergency services after hearing screams coming from the house. Upon entering he discovered the three of them in the garage.
He saw the girl with Risaan and found out he was her boyfriend from her.
The man then heard the sister say to her brother: “Why did you do this? You have a girlfriend.” He then replied to her saying “Sorry.”
Police and emergency services subsequently arrived at the house. Police cordoned off the area of The Avenue in Watford.
The brother was arrested and Risaan was immediately taken to the hospital, where he passed away later that evening due to the chest wounds from the fatal stabbing.
The brother has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Risaan Udayakumar.
Risaan Family Reaction
Risaan’s family have been completely devasted by the loss of their “gentle and academically talented boy.”
After the incident, in a statement they said:
“As a family we would like to thank all the police and medical staff who tried to help our son, along with the member of the public who was first on the scene.
“Risaan was a gentle, academically talented, former QE Barnet Grammar School student who had just finished his first year studying Civil Engineering at The University of Surrey.
“He wanted to help build things for this country and his dream was to build a Formula 1 track.
“Our family is devastated and will never be the same again. Risaan leaves a gap that cannot be filled and we do not understand why this has happened to such a bright and caring young man.”
Detective Inspector Justine Jenkins, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, said:
“Our thoughts remain with the young man’s family at what is understandably an extremely difficult time.”
The case continues.
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