Durban - The man charged with the rape and murder of his 61-year-old girlfriend was denied bail at the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
The man, who cannot be named until he has pleaded to the rape charge, told the court at his bail application that he intended pleading guilty to the murder, but would deny the rape, claiming that his girlfriend - Premawathie Ramdhin - consented to the sexual act.
Ramdhin was found in a pool of blood at her home in Raisethorpe on May 28. She had been sexually assaulted with a bottle.
In an affidavit opposing bail, Warrant Officer Sizwe Makhatini said the autopsy report indicated that Ramdhin had suffered “unbelievably severe injuries”.
Makhatini said that according to witnesses, the man and Ramdhin had been drinking alcohol in a group.
The couple then disappeared into the house and after a long while, before the man emerged alone and continued drinking with his friends.
The friends allegedly noticed that the man had blood on his shirt.
When questioned about it, he allegedly told them he had sex with Ramdhin and she was bleeding. He then allegedly burnt the shirt under a tree and continued drinking.
The accused then allegedly went back to the crime scene the day Ramdhin’s body was discovered, enquiring what had happened to her.
He was only arrested two weeks later.
The 52-year-old man submitted to the court that he and Ramdhin were in a love relationship, despite the fact that he was engaged to another woman, and lives with his fiancé and her children.
He and his fiancee had been together for some 20 years.
He works for a construction company as a foreman.
Denying the man bail, Magistrate M Boikhutso said that what the man allegedly did was shocking, cruel and inhuman.
“This type of violence is happening far too often, and these offences are being committed under the pretence of love, committed by people in supposed love relationships,” the magistrate said, adding that this pattern of abuse needed to be broken.
“Severe punishment must be given to perpetrators who commit these acts,” she said.
The case has been adjourned to August 30 for further investigations.
Daily News