The death of a woman whose body was exhumed last week has been certified in the post mortem report as ‘undertermined’.
And because no further toxicology and other tests are to be conducted at the forensic laboratory in Pretoria, the prospects of a foul play finding in the death of Zainab Mahomed, 30, on June 18 are slim.
According to the post mortem her kidneys, heart and lungs were intact. However, no urine specimen could be extracted to conduct further tests. An inquest docket will be opened.
Last Monday unemployed Abdul Kadir Mahomed Haniff, 50, of Silvermount Circle, Moorton had his daughter’s corpse exhumed from the Shallcross cemetery.
In terms of the court order the exhumation and reburial costs had to be paid by Haniff.
Prem Singh, the chief magistrate at the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court, granted the exhumation order after Haniff sought the application for Zainab’s body to be exhumed.
Haniff said in a statement to police he suspected his daughter had not died of natural causes. This was inspite of a doctor’s declaration on her death certificate.
No post-mortem was done before she was buried on June 18. Zainab died in the house she rented with her husband in Detroit Street, Bayview.
Zainab’s husband, Al Hadi Mahomed, said he preferred to distance him from any mudslinging with his father-in-law.
“I reserve my rights . I am waiting for the State to give me the post mortem report,”said Al Hadi.
Al Hadi, a manager at an aluminium firm, said he stood by the “I do not have blood on my hands’ comment he made last week.
He also made it clear that he no longer regarded Haniff as his father-in-law.
“How can I respect a person who refused to leave my wife’s body to rest in peace. Even though exhuming Zainab’s corpse was hard to accept, I did not stop the exhumation.
“I am a God-fearing person and we have to answer to Him someday.
“I do not regard Haniff as my father-in-law. He had my wife’s body taken out of her grave and buried for the second time. On the day she died he agreed that a post mortem was not necessary.
“I did not say a post mortem should not be held. Had the post mortem been conducted on the day Zainab died, there would have been no need for her body to have been exhumed,’’ said Al Hadi.
He added he had nothing to fear because he did not kill Zainab.
“To make sure that everything was done according to the required standards, I engaged the services of a private pathologist. I have his report.
“I am waiting for the State to compile its postmortem report and to hand a copy to me before I plan my course of action.
“At this stage I don’t want to elaborate on what I intend doing, save to say that this saga has caused me a lot of trauma. Losing Zainab is a great loss. Having her body exhumed aggravated my trauma,’’ he said. Haniff did not want to comment. - The Post