Durban - An inquest instead of an expected murder trial would begin in January into the mysterious disappearance of a woman nine years ago.
Charges were withdrawn on Friday against uMhlanga businessman Sateesh Isseri, who had been accused of killing his girlfriend at the time, Faika Esop Ali.
She was apparently last seen alive in Isseri’s company, on February 9, 2007.
Her body was never found and the State had alleged Isseri killed Ali “in circumstances unknown to the State”.
Isseri appeared briefly in the accused dock in the Durban High Court for senior State advocate Kelvin Singh to inform the court the State was withdrawing the charge.
Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, the National Prosecuting Authority’s regional spokeswoman, said this was because of “a lack of reasonable prospect of success”.
“This was brought about by new information that had recently come to light after the initial decision to prosecute was made,” she said.
Read: Isseri to stand trial for lover’s murder
According to the indictment, Ali and Isseri were in a relationship which allegedly soured, with Ali apparently telling him she no longer wanted to be with him.
On February 9, 2007, it was alleged Isseri went to her home, took her in his car and this was the last time she was seen alive.
Speaking outside court, Isseri’s attorney, Anand Nepaul, said an inquest would be held instead. “It has always been my view that this should have been done first,” he said.
Read: Isseri told to pay back stolen millions
Nepaul explained that a formal inquiry would be held by a magistrate in the magistrate’s court where all the witnesses would give evidence.
“The purpose would be to ascertain whether there was a death in the first place, identity of the deceased, cause of the death and if anyone was responsible.
“Depending on the outcome of this, there may or may not be charges proffered,” Nepaul explained.
The murder trial, which was initially set down for September, had been wracked with controversy before its start.
The original prosecutor dealing with the matter had to be removed because of allegations from the Ali family that they did not trust him and suspected foul play. The family had complained to the Director of Public Prosecutions in KwaZulu-Natal, which led to the prosecutor’s supervisor removing him from the case and replacing him with Singh.
The murder trial had then been rescheduled for January to February.
Before this, Isseri had launched a high court application for further information from the State, claiming the investigating officer was hiding documents in the docket from him.
During this application, it emerged, from the investigating officer, that there were in fact two dockets - one opened in 2007 and closed as “undetected” - and a second reconstructed by the policeman when he took over the matter in January last year.
Isseri still faces charges of bribery and corruption in the Commercial Crime Court that are related to Ali’s disappearance. He is charged, along with former Hawks boss Brigadier Simon Madonsela.
It is alleged that Madonsela took money from both the murder suspect, Isseri, and the murder victim’s family in 2010 and 2011 while he was in charge of the docket related to the missing person case of Ali.
According to the charge sheet, Ali’s brothers, “Mr Mohammed Samudh Shaik and/or Mr Ismail Jabur Shaik”, allegedly offered Madonsela money to ensure that the case was not closed and that a proper investigation took place.
It is alleged that Madonsela demanded a R40 000 bribe, but a R28 000 counter-offer was allegedly made by the brothers and accepted.
The alleged payment was made in two sums - R25 000 on September 21, 2010, and R3 000 on October 4, 2011.
The State further alleges that 10 days after the payment in October 2011, Madonsela was paid R2 000 by Isseri so that the investigations in the case would not go ahead. In 2011, Isseri had not been charged, but the family believed he was a suspect.
This trial is set down for May.
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