Durban - The man accused of killing and raping Wentworth teenager Tenique Stevens has walked free after charges against him were dismissed because of insufficient evidence.
Durban High Court Judge Charmaine Balton said on Friday it was “clear to the court” that the investigating officer did not properly investigate the case.
Navandhran Naicker had made an application to the court to have the rape, murder and theft charges against him discharged,
In her judgment on the application, she also said “shoddy investigation” resulted in important DNA evidence being overlooked.
Naicker was accused of raping and killing Stevens whose partly naked body was found by fishermen, covered with black plastic, a rope around her neck and her mouth stuffed with a cloth, at Cuttings Beach in Merebank on June 5, 2012.
He had pleaded not guilty to these charges as well as to the theft of her cellphone.
Last week, Naicker’s lawyer, advocate Pregasen Marimuthu, instructed by Legal Aid SA, made the application for discharge after state advocate Happy Mazibuko closed her case.
Naicker had alleged Tenique had flagged down his van as she had been locked out her house and had asked for a lift. The State has alleged that the rope found around Tenique’s neck was the same rope that was used on the van’s tarpaulin.
Naicker was arrested at his home in Merebank six months after Tenique’s death and was found in possession of a Nokia cellphone believed to have belonged to Tenique.
The investigating officer, however, had kept this cellphone in his private safe at the Wentworth police station and did not enter it into the police register.
Judge Balton said the State relied on circumstantial evidence - cellphone data usage from Tenique’s sim card two days after her death - to convict Naicker as charged.
Referring to the rape charge, the judge said the investigating officer testified that DNA samples were taken from Naicker and that there was no DNA evidence linking Naicker to Tenique. She said the reports about the DNA analysis were not handed into court.
Referring to the rope, Judge Balton said in the absence of forensic analysis linking the rope on Tenique’s neck to that taken from Naicker’s van, the court could not accept that the rope around her neck was the same rope from the van.
The investigating officer had testified that the rope and tarpaulin were sent for forensic analysis but had not yet received a report on it.
“He was unable to explain why the trial proceeded if this vital information was not at hand,” said the judge.
“Proper investigation of the rope, clothing and condom wrappers and boxes found on the scene may have provided some DNA evidence for prosecution. Unfortunately, shoddy investigation resulted in this important evidence being overlooked.”
The judge said in the absence of direct or forensic evidence, the court could not exclude the possibility that the perpetrator could have been somebody else.
“This court is left with many unanswered questions or insufficient evidence on various possibilities of how the deceased met her death. Proper investigation would have explored all available avenues,” her judgment read.
Daily News