Three staff at the five-star Legends hotel were charged on Wednesday over the murder of the daughter of a high-profile Irish sports personality on her honeymoon, police said.
The three appeared in Mapou district court, where two were provisionally charged with the murder of Michaela Harte and the third with complicity to murder, police said.
After the hearing the three, identified as Sandip Moneaa, 41 and a floor supervisor, and Avinash Treebohun, 29, who claimed to be victim of police brutality, and Raj Theekoy, 33, both room attendants, were returned to police custody where they will
remain while the investigation continues.
They are due back in court next week. Police said the three men are the last people to have been in contact with the victim before she was found strangled in her hotel room on Monday.
“We are continuing our inquiry in order to find out what really happened on this fateful Monday,” police commissioner Dhun Iswar Rampersad said on Wednesday, adding that other people will be questioned this week.
“The police are exploring all possible avenues,” he told journalists.
Hotel computer records show that someone entered the room two minutes before she did, police sources involved in the investigation said on Wednesday.
Police said Michaela had been heading to the hotel restaurant with her husband when she briefly returned to her room alone to get something.
Rampersad said the victim was found “in the bathtub filled with water, face up towards the ceiling” contradicting an earlier police report that she had been found on her back on the floor.
“I want to reassure the population, the management of the hotel, the family of the victim and those who were close to her that this case is being handled in a very serious and very professional manner with a view to finding the guilty parties,” Rampersad said.
He said that in the course of the past three years, no murder in Mauritius has remained unresolved and that this is only the second incident of its kind he can recall in a 37-year career.
The death has rocked Ireland the 27-year-old teacher and former beauty queen was the daughter of Tyrone Gaelic football boss Mickey Harte, one of Ireland’s best-known sporting figures.
Minister of Tourism and Leisure Nando Bodha on Wednesday called an emergency meeting of the island’s hotel and restaurant chiefs amid concerns over the potential damage to the country’s multi-billion dollar tourism industry.
“The tourism sector as a whole is determined to do everything to prove that Mauritius is a safe destination,” he said.
Wednesday’s court hearing came as family members started arriving.
“This morning we welcomed the brother of the late Michaela, and John McAreavey’s brother,” Bodha told journalists.
“We will welcome the victim’s father tomorrow and everything will be done to enable the family to return home with the body on Saturday,” he said.
PDF 
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
Loading ...
It is indeed a very sad story for Mauritius and its people.
Beyond the fact that Mauritius is one of the safetiest destinations, there are too much ‘laisser-aller’ in the conduct of affairs at all levels in this country. As a matter of fact, the Prime Minister Navin RAMGOOLAM who is also the Minister of Home Affairs must resign.
A fully-fledged Commission of Inquiry presided over by a panel of Senior judges must be constituted to look into this assassination. Too many cover-ups at all levels has bring this state of affair.
Being a mauritian,i can say that its a real shame that these two guys brought to our country…and they have really tarnished the image of mauritius all over the world..so sad about that…and sad also about the death of such a young lady who did not even start enjoying her wedding life properly…
Its very sad that this happened and especially in our island of Mauritius. This has tarnished the reputation and will definitely has a negative effect on the arrival of tourists in the island. But I honestly think that the death penalty should be introduced in Mauritius and this should not take more time to be implemented.
Thanks
Sometimes i feel proud to be a Mauritian because we have that special sense of hospitality, BUT sometimes i HATE to belong to that community when an increasing of people behave like beasts. I think that it is time to reintroduce Death Penalty . Those murderers didn’t have place on earth. Imprisonement is not a solution since they are well fed in prison and will be freed in 15-20 years. With our tax contribution, we are feeding those bastards. One life is gone forever in agony while the murderer is eating and drinking as if nothing happened.
I am absolutey puzzled by the statement made by the police commissioner Ramparsad that the case is still being looked into.The investigation team must have had every angle covered because the parameter of the crime scene is so clearly mapped up i.e individual on duty, those who had access to the room within the time of the crime, those who were aware of the where about of the couple, motive and finger prints. I also understand that some individual involved have been previously sacked from other hotels. Do I take it that the commissioner is facing pressure from officials in the government. As a Mauritian I know too well that Ministers and other people in power do have influence on cases if their family or protected circle are threatened. Crime in Mauritius has increased immensely and continues to grow. High profile individuals get away with murder literally as witnesses and evidences go missing and there has been cases where witnesses have been maimed or disappeared altogether. I am proud to be a Mauritian but seeing my country turning into a heaven for thieves, drug criminals, murderers, rapists and above all dishonest politicians are all too much of a shame. I can see the situation getting worse. S.M
I come from the north of the island and am not afraid to say that the north is still more backwards and ignorant than the towns. Apparently there are less corruption in Mauritius now.. Bullshit!!
I can tell you that a policeman at the Plaines des Papayes Station suspected of the murder of his neighbour has seen his career prosper – promoted twice..It is a country where you still can not tell the difference between criminal and Police.