Murder victim dumped in mielie field

Slain Winterton restaurateur, Rajoo Grewan, was confronted by his killers who took him into a mielie field close to his home to assault him. File picture: Etienne Creux

Slain Winterton restaurateur, Rajoo Grewan, was confronted by his killers who took him into a mielie field close to his home to assault him. File picture: Etienne Creux

Published Oct 31, 2014

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Pietermaritzburg -

SLAIN Winterton restaurateur, Rajoo Grewan, was confronted by his killers minutes after picking up his wife, Philile, from a church service, the Pietermaritzburg High Court heard on Thursday.

“We found Philile standing on the road. She was hysterical and she told us that their attackers had taken Rajoo into the mielie fields,” Rajoo’s sister, Anne Grewan, told the court.

Rajoo, 41, who ran a restaurant on his Sophia’s Rust smallholding in Winterton with his wife, was shot on the night of June 7 last year after being attacked by two gun-wielding men.

He was shot in the neck after a violent scuffle, but was still alive when he was dumped in a mielie plantation on the smallholding. He dragged himself back onto the road, where he was found by his sister, Anne.

Nhlanhla Gumbi, 36, and Siyethmeba Mfeka, 20, have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.

Testifying on Thursday, Anne said that on the night of the murder, Philile had attended a church service at the siblings’ mother’s house, which is also at Sophia’s Rust, close to Rajoo’s home and restaurant.

When the church service ended at about 8pm, Rajoo picked up his wife and they drove back to their house.

Anne said about 20 minutes later her mother phoned and told her “something had happened to Rajoo”.

“My mother, our pastor and I got into my car and I drove towards my brother’s house,” she said. The trio made their way towards the plantation when she saw a figure lying on the road.

“I saw my brother lying on his stomach. I thought maybe he had been beaten, but then I turned him around, and that’s when I saw the bullet wound. He was still alive, and I ran back to the car and started shouting and hooting for help,” Anne said, tears streaming down her face.

By that time, relatives at her mother’s house had already called the police, who arrived minutes later.

“The police radioed for an ambulance, but we decided it would be faster to take my brother to the hospital in my car,” Anne said.

At the hospital, doctors said he would have to be transferred to a hospital in Pietermaritzburg because of the severity of his injuries, but he died while waiting for the ambulance.

The State alleges Gumbi and Mfeka had plotted to rob Rajoo, the father of a 13-year-old son, and lay in wait for him on the night of the murder.

When Rajoo and his wife drove up to the gate, the pair allegedly confronted them. Rajoo scuffled with one of his attackers and was shot. Rajoo was also armed with a firearm, which was allegedly stolen by his killer.

Philile was taken into her house at gunpoint and the accused allegedly made off with several items.

They allegedly drove off in Rajoo’s Toyota Hilux bakkie, dumping him in the plantation as they fled.

Gumbi and Mfeka were arrested in July last year.

Daily News

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