Rameez Patel: State wants co-accused extradited from Zim
The case of Rameez Patel, who stands accused of the murder on his mother, Mahjebeen Patel, has been postponed to 30 July in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court.
POLOKWANE – The state hopes the second accused, Charles Chialani, who escaped from the police holding cells on 20 November last year, will be extradited by Zimbabwe to stand trial for the murder.
Read more: BREAKING NEWS: Three suspects escape from Polokwane police holding cells
State Prosecutor, Mashudu Mudau, said he had hoped the second accused would join the accused, but since he escaped from the police cells, the state needs guidance from the Director of Public Prosecutions on whether to continue with the accused’s court case alone or wait for the extradition of the second accused.
Patel was arrested in September 2017 in connection with the murder of his mother with Chialani believed to be the hitman.
Read more: Rameez Patel charged with his mom’s murder
Patel in the meantime wants to be released on bail. His first protracted bail application for the murder of his mother failed earlier this year. He had been out on R250 000 bail for the murder of his wife, Fatima, in April 2015 when his mother was shot and killed at the family house in Nirvana.
Read more: ‘I didn’t kill my wife’ – Rameez Patel
His father, Feroz was also shot and killed in August 2016.
Read more: Murder accused Rameez Patel’s father killed in shooting
Patel appeared in the Limpopo High Court on Wednesday, where he is on trial for the murder of his wife, Fatima. Last week the Judge, Joseph Raulinga, ruled in favour of the recall of his brother, Razeen Patel, to give further evidence after Razeen claimed he felt threatened when he gave evidence the first time. He fled the country after his mother’s death.
Key witnesses, including a former domestic worker and an employee of Patel, fled from the witness protection programme before they could formally testify. Some statements were, however, allowed as hearsay evidence in the trial.
