Chevonne Rusch’s murder case continues in Palmridge
The matter is heard as a session of the High Court at Palm Ridge Magistrates’ Court.
Following the adjournment of the trial against Rochelle Botha and Cornelius Stefan van Niekerk, it resumed on August 14.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority, the trial against the pair was adjourned on August 8, as one of the defence advocates had a funeral to attend.
Van Niekerk faces charges of murder, while Botha, mother of the deceased, faces charges of murder of a minor, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and rape of a minor.
ALSO READ: Chevonne Rusch’s murder case postponed to March
Last May, Bedfordview and Edenvale News reported about the case of murder opened after two-year-old Chevonne was taken to Wannenburg Clinic in Primrose.
Bedfordview SAPS spokesperson Sergeant Lillian Modiga then said clinic personnel called Primrose police officers to the clinic.
“When the officers arrived, the nurses showed them a child brought in by a man believed to be her stepfather.
“They wrapped the child in a blanket. She had blood in her mouth and bruises all over her body. The child also had a wound on the back of her head,” she said.
Modiga said the police opened a murder docket because of her injuries.
The matter is heard as a session of the High Court at Palm Ridge Magistrates’ Court. The trial started on July 31.
ALSO READ: Chevonne Rusch: Murder case postponed to January 2023
At the last sitting where Botha and Van Niekerk appeared in Germiston Magistrate’s Court on January 19, the presiding magistrate at the time said they had transferred the case to Johannesburg High Court as the Germiston court did not have jurisdiction over the matter.
It went to high court in February for a pre-trial.
The NPA said the duo faced the same counts as the initial indictment.
