Cape Town – Ill health by the accused in the murder trial of 18-month-old Jeremiah Ruiters led to the postponement of proceedings in the Western Cape High Court yesterday.
Judge Monde Samela postponed the case pending Ameerodien Peters, 28, and Abigail Ruiters, 31, being well enough to stand trial.
Little Jeremiah was in Peters’s care while Abigail was at work as a cashier at a wholesaler when, in June 2017, he was declared dead at the Kensington Clinic due to blunt force trauma to his spine.
He had a cracked skull, broken ribs, and bite marks all over his body.
A post-mortem showed he was sodomised. Peters stands accused of rape and murder while Abigail is charged with the murder as well as child neglect under the Children’s Act.
Peters’s lawyer, advocate Alan Koester, yesterday said his client was ill and needed to see a doctor. Ruiters started feeling ill the previous day.
“It is unfortunate that we have to stop proceedings but we will continue tomorrow. I hope both of you get well,” Judge Samela said.
The interpreter was also not present yesterday.
During the State’s cross-examination of Peters it emerged Jeremiah fell 1.7m from a table he was standing on and cried continuously until his mother came from work and took him to hospital hours later.