Durban - The State plans to pile on the charges against the mother and grandmother of the toddler found murdered in her Chatsworth home, including a possible rape charge.
State prosecutor Lolly Soobramoney told the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court that a post-mortem conducted on the body of Jamie Faith Naidoo revealed that the 3-year-old had been penetrated in the hours leading to her death five days ago.
The disclosure drew gasps from the packed public gallery in Court Room C on Monday as Salatchee Basanich, 55 and her daughter, Patricia Ishwarlal, made their first court appearance on murder charges.
Ishwarlal is Jamie’s mother. Jamie was found murdered in her Havenside, Chatsworth, home on Thursday with several injuries to her body, including cigarette burns.
Her murder has shocked the community who descended on the court to catch a glimpse of the alleged killers.
Jamie’s mother and grandmother were led up from the cells just after 12.30pm to jeers from people in the public gallery who hurled insults at them and told them to “rot in jail”. The women avoided the stares from the public gallery with some telling them: “Don’t look back. You have no support here.”
Court orderlies reprimanded the agitators in the public gallery several times.
The women’s lawyer, Vijay Sivakumoor of ProBono.org, told the court he had not had sufficient time to get a full briefing from his clients.
He asked for the matter to be postponed until December 4 by which time he should have been briefed. He also requested the women be remanded in custody at the Chatsworth police station as it would be easier for him to meet them.
Asked by magistrate BL Mpungose why it would be harder to meet at Westville Prison, he said that from past experience, there had always been delays in meeting clients.
Mpungose turned down his request, saying there were no supporting documents from the station commander of Chatsworth agreeing to his request. Soobramoney said the investigating officer was waiting for the full pathologist report which they were expediting to be ready by the end of the week.
She said that once the report was complete, they might add charges against the women.
Outside the court, about 200 people including religious groups, political parties and child rights NGOs chanted “no bail, rot in jail” under the gaze of a heavy police contingent.
Eureka Olivier, director of Operation Bobbi Bear, said her organisation planned to protest at every court appearance to ensure that justice was done for Jamie.
“What is going on in our society that a little child has to die this way? Somewhere someone has failed this child and that person has to be held accountable.
“How many nights did she have to go to bed in pain, sobbing as she fell asleep? The very people who were supposed to have comforted her, protected her and cuddled her let her down and allowed her to die. Her little body had to be taken in a body bag and that is on all of us.
“We talk about 16 days of activism against women and child abuse, but we should be extending it to 365 days. We should never allow this to happen again,” she said.
The Daily News has established that Jamie was rescued on June 9, 2011, on Durban’s beachfront when she was just six weeks old after allegedly being sold to a man for R100.
The girl, whose father was in prison in Cape Town, had been placed in Chatsworth by Child Welfare social workers acting in terms of a court order.
Child Welfare has denied it failed the child and said regular visits had been undertaken over the past three years.
Brandon Pillay, a local councillor, said it was now up to the community to give Jamie a voice.
He said the community had contributed funds to give her a dignified funeral.
The funeral will take place on Thursday at the Havenside Community Hall from 11am to 4pm, followed by a burial at the Mobeni Heights Cemetery.
Daily News