NO rest for her
The body of Fatima Patel was exhumed in order to gain more forensic evidence.
POLOKWANE – The body of Fatima Patel was exhumed in order to gain more forensic evidence.
This decision was made by the Polokwane magistrate’s court last Thursday.
Fatima was killed on April 10 and her body was found in a pool of blood at her and her husband, Rameez’s townhouse in Nirvana. There were no signs of forced entry.
She was hit over the head with an unknown object, strangled and shot in the face with a firearm.
Her husband stands accused of her murder and was arrested six days after the incident. He is currently out on bail.
Col Ronél Otto, provincial police spokesperson, confirmed the exhumation.
“The exhumation was for further forensic tests after investigations revealed that more forensic evidence was needed,” Otto said.
A further development in this case was that Const David Nkuna was no longer the investigating officer. During Rameez’s bail application, Nkuna fainted while giving testimony.
During the bail application hearings since Rameez’s arrest, it was revealed that poor investigative work by the police was partly to blame for Rameez being granted bail at R250 000.
There were parts of Rameez’s statement that were not fully completed, such as the date when his statement was taken and the place where the statement was made. There was also no mention about when and where Rameez’s fingerprints were taken and the statement was not properly ended.
Otto said: “The investigation was taken to an experienced team of detectives at provincial level to ensure an in-depth and thorough investigation, as is being done with several other cases in the province”.
Fatima’s uncle, Farook Chunara, told Review the family was still traumatised about what happened and did not want to give comment on the matter.
The case will be heard in court again on September 22.
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Patel hearing: Evidence blooper
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‘I didn’t kill my wife’ – Rameez Patel
