Durban - Four members of a family accused of murdering a former employee who returned to collect outstanding wages, were granted bail at the Verulam Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Pradeep Runjith, 41, and his brother, Prakash, 42, were granted bail of R10 000 each, with their sister, Reshma Boodram, 31, and mother, Devrani Boodram, being allowed bail of R3 000 each.
All four are alleged to have been involved in the murder of their former employee, Bhekuwise Patrick Radebe, 43, at their property in Himalaya Drive, Verulam, last Tuesday, after an altercation between Prakash and Radebe turned sour.
The property also houses the Kiddyfiddlers crèche, which is run by Reshma.
The investigating officer in the case, Kelvin Moodley, on Tuesday testified against the four receiving bail.
He told the court Radebe had allegedly gone to the family premises with two other men to collect his outstanding wages.
An altercation occurred which led to Radebe being assaulted and sprayed with tear gas by Prakash, the officer alleged.
The policeman said while this was happening, the mother and daughter joined in on the assault, with the mother using an iron pipe to strike Radebe.
According to the policeman, Pradeep was telephoned and asked to come to the premises with a firearm. Moodley alleged Pradeep arrived with the intention to kill and fired three shots at the scene, hitting Radebe once in the chest.
He told the court the shooting happened on the roadside and the brothers then conspired to drag Radebe’s body to the driveway entrance of their premises.
Moodley alleged that a kitchen knife was strategically placed next to Radebe’s hand. He also told Magistrate Chris Mdunge that a brick, which Radebe is alleged to have thrown at their vehicle, was actually placed there.
Rajen Nathalal, acting on behalf of the four accused, argued that Prakash had used the property as part of his workshop for his business and therefore the knife could have been part of the business equipment.
Nathalal said Prakash owned Eveready Security Services, which employed almost 60 guards, and they would be in danger of losing their jobs because the business would collapse as a result of bail denial.
The magistrate ruled that there was no evidence of tear gas used in the fracas or of Pradeep arriving with intention to kill.
He said there was no pre-planning and the family had substantial property and fixed assets for them not to evade trial. He said it would not be in the interests of justice to hold them in custody while investigations continued.
All four have denied murdering Radebe, with the brothers claiming he was shot accidentally after a melee had broken out. They allege Radebe was behaving violently and flung cement bricks at them.
The matter was adjourned to May for further investigations.
Daily News