The missing presumed dead Brooklyn woman would have celebrated her 58th birthday today, 8 April.
Dawn Basdeo went missing in June last year after it was alleged that she had left home for a nearby hospital.
Her family grew worried when she did not return home and her phone went unanswered.
Led by Dawn’s husband Prem Emmanuel Basdeo, they opened a missing person’s case at the Brooklyn police station.
ALSO READ: UPDATE: State hopes to uncover another suspect in Basdeo ‘murder’
Two days later her car was found abandoned in Soweto.
In an interesting turn of events, Prem was arrested and charged with her murder, perjury and defeating the end of justice.
Police said there was sufficient evidence to suggest that Dawn was dead and that Prem was involved.
During his court appearances it was revealed that a bloody knife and towels were recovered in the house Prem shared with his wife and prosecutor Kagisho Rancho told the court these items would be tested for DNA and would form a crucial part of the evidence.
Her body was yet to be found even after several searches led by the police, family and members of the community.
It was believed that Prem had provided police with three contrasting statements regarding his wife’s disappearance.
ALSO READ: UPDATE: Basdeo ‘murderer’ lied about where he dumped the body, searchers say
In one statement it was alleged that he confessed to disposing of Dawn’s body after she fell and hit her head in the bathroom during an argument.
He allegedly told the police that he wrapped the body in a brown blanket and disposed of it in an unidentified field.
In another, he was said to have confessed to abandoning Dawn’s car in Soweto because he was “scared” he would be suspected in her disappearance.
But Prem has denied any wrongdoing and maintained that he did not kill his wife and that he was trying to help search for her.
ALSO READ: UPDATE: Missing Pretoria woman: State wants to look into Basdeo’s previous murder case
He was granted bail of R50 000 by a high court judge who said there was nothing that suggested that he would evade the law.
On Friday, he appeared briefly in the Pretoria magistrate’s court where an indictment was due to be issued and the matter moved to the high court.
Instead, the matter was postponed while an indictment was being finalised.
Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
