Durban - A PIETERMARITZBURG family is hoping that the man allegedly responsible for kidnapping Shrivani Laksha Madhan is denied bail in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s court on Tuesday.
Madhan, 28, a pharmacist from Allandale, went missing on Thursday evening.
According to Prem Balram of Reaction Unit South Africa, Madhan had thought her black pitbull mix Chloe had run out of the complex she lived in when the driveway gate had been opened.
A man, who is known to her, allegedly telephoned Madhan to inform her that he knew the whereabouts of Chloe and offered to help her find her.
Her brother, Rivaaj Madhan Bhola, told Capital Newspapers that she kept in contact with a cousin who suspected something was amiss when the call was cut during a conversation.
The cousin tried calling her back but the phone went unanswered.
The family grew concerned about her whereabouts.
They believed the man had become obsessed over Madhan.
When the Daily News contacted Bhola, he directed queries to family attorney Subhash Maikoo.
“I will be doing a watching brief in court to make sure she gets some form of justice. The matter is now before the courts. We decline to comment further at this stage,” Maikoo said.
Balram said a search for the man’s vehicle had hit a dead end. The man had left the vehicle tracking device in his apartment.
Both parties’ cellphones were switched off and attempts to contact them had failed.
Madhan was allegedly taken to a bed and breakfast in Hillcrest. Chloe was abandoned in Hillcrest and taken to the Kloof and Highway SPCA.
Her cousin, Niresh Ramcharan, said Madhan escaped. Ramcharan could not divulge how this happened.
Police found Madhan at the Oxford shopping centre in Hillcrest on Saturday, unharmed.
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said the man was arrested at a self-catering apartment in Shelly Beach in Port Shepstone on Sunday.
Ramcharan said the incident had received the wrong kind of attention on social media.
There had been relentless false stories posted on Facebook about the incident, he said.
“This has put undue stress on the family. Shrivani has been through a traumatic experience. We have to wrap our heads around what happened. Our focus is the court appearance. The accused is a flight risk from what we have established,” Ramcharan said.
Mountain Rise police are investigating a case of kidnapping.
Daily News