Durban -
A noon deadline to close courtroom 10 at the Durban Magistrate’s Court for fumigation came and went on Friday as officials waited for Rosanne Narandas to be brought from Berea police station to face a charge of kidnapping.
Eventually, the Durban socialite and Ooh La La fashion store owner, dressed in grey pants, a long-sleeved black top and platform heels, walked up the stairs from the holding cells into the accused dock in the courtroom and stood before magistrate Varma Armu.
State prosecutor Blackie Swart told the court Narandas faced a charge of kidnapping three people at her flat in Musgrave.
She was alleged to have locked them in her garage from 4pm to 8pm on Thursday and had refused to release them, even after the police arrived.
“She had bought a Mercedes (A45 AMG) from people in Newcastle. The money was transferred and the vehicle was delivered. When her son (Rikesh) had taken the car for a test drive, he noticed the odometer reading was 2 000km more than the advertised mileage. She wanted a discount or part of her money back,” Swart told the court.
“The men said they were just salesman and were then locked in her garage. Fire services were eventually called to cut the padlock and chain to release them,” Swart said.
Narandas’s legal counsel, advocate Jay Naidoo, told magistrate Armu that the matter was a civil dispute.
“She wanted to cancel the sale. They refused to and she held them until they could come to a decision. A third party had called the police,” he said.
Narandas was released on warning and is to appear in court again later this month.
It is believed police could not arrest Narandas on Thursday night as she had barricaded herself inside her flat. The police arrived the following morning to arrest her. - Daily news