Mark Harvey’s murder case postponed to June 17
The accused Mark Harvey made his third appearance in the Roodepoort Magistrate's Court.
Roodepoort— The case of Mark Harvey took a slight turn as he made his third court appearance at the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court on April 17.
Harvey was arrested for the alleged murder of Marishka Davids (30) and Zakkiyah Rayman (38) after he doused them both with petrol and set them alight in the early hours of February 11.
Rayman died seven days after the attack, and Davids died at the end of February. Harvey is charged with two counts of murder and one of arson.
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According to prosecutor Arnold Limekhaya, the docket was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for further investigations to see whether there was enough evidence to prosecute Harvey.
“The state is unable to provide the docket as investigations are still pending as we await the decision from the DPP. The accused will remain in custody until the postponed date,” says Limekhaya.
The families of the deceased were both left distraught and emotional. The sister of Zakkiyah, Tasneem Rayman, came forward and told the Roodepoort Record how it opens a painful wound each time they come to court and see Harvey.
“We were all shocked and overwhelmed because we expected that there would be a guilty plea. To our surprise, there have been changes to Mark’s plea, and it leaves the rest of us overwhelmed with emotions we thought we had under control.
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“This will be a continued battle we face together, and we are going to try and remain strong together.
“Unfortunately, attending these court proceedings each time becomes daunting and tedious because we have to face the man who took our girls away from us, however, the light at the end of the tunnel is that the case has been raised with the DPP, meaning there is hope for our families to get justice,” says Faizel Rayman, Zakkiyah’s father.
The case was postponed to June 19, following further investigations, and will resume at the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court.
