Durban - The man accused of brutally murdering his young girlfriend has returned from being mentally evaluated.
The trial of Christopher Sabbadu, 24, was delayed last month to allow for him to be evaluated at Fort Napier Hospital for 30 days.
Sabbadu had approached his attorney, stating that he did not understand the proceedings, and could not follow what was going on.
He claimed to be suffering from some form of mild mental retardation.
Sabbadu appeared briefly in the Pietermaritzburg High Court last week, after returning from his time at Fort Napier, and was remanded in custody until November 11 for the evaluation reports to be submitted.
The inquiry revolved around whether Sabbadu was fit to stand trial, had the capacity to understand court proceedings, and was able to give his advocate proper instructions to conduct a proper defence.
The inquiry also probed what Sabbadu’s state of mind was at the time of the murder, and whether he was able to appreciate the wrongfulness of his actions at that time.
Sabbadu is charged with the rape and murder of his petite, 19-year-old girlfriend.
He pleaded not guilty and denied playing any part in her death.
Sabbadu faces two charges of rape and one of murder.
The brutalised, half-naked body of Litisha Danielle Naidoo was found by police in a stormwater drain near Debi Place in Northdale on November 20, 2014.
According to the indictment, Sabbadu and Naidoo were involved in a “tumultuous” love relationship.
Naidoo lived in Copesville, but would often visit Northdale, where Sabbadu lived.
It is alleged that prior to the incident, Sabbadu decided to rape and kill his girlfriend and procured the assistance of four of his friends to do so.
These friends were allegedly well known to Naidoo.
The State alleges that Sabbadu and his cohorts planned to lure Naidoo to a secluded area where they would rape, kill and dispose of her body.
To this end they allegedly armed themselves with knives and plastic refuse bags.
On Thursday, November 20, 2014, Naidoo was in the Northdale area and was allegedly successfully lured to a secluded area by Sabbadu.
There, Sabbadu and his accomplices allegedly assaulted her, forced her to the ground, held her down and then removed her clothing.
Two of the men then allegedly took turns raping her. During the ordeal, Naidoo was stabbed multiple times and throttled.
Her body was then wrapped in plastic bags and dumped into an adjacent sewer canal. The killers then fled.
Daily News