Post Wednesday, November 25, 2020

GANDHI’S GREAT-GRANDSON DIES Tributes pour in for Satish Dhupelia CHANELLE LUTCHMAN chanelle.lutchman@inl.co.za TRIBUTES have been pouring in for Satish Dhupelia, who died in hospital on Sunday afternoon. Three days earlier he had celebrated his 66th birthday. His maternal grandfather, Manilal, was the second son of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi. When Gandhi left South Africa to return to India, Manilal stayed behind to continue his father's work. Sita was one of Manilal’s children. She married Shashikant and the couple had three children, Satish being one of them. Dhupelia, who lived in Sydenham, was a trustee of the Phoenix Settlement that his great-grandfather started and a management committee member of the Gandhi Development Trust, started by his aunt Ela Gandhi. Years ago, Dhupelia worked as a teacher but subsequently turned…

MOM SEARCHES FOR CHILDREN WHO WERE TAKEN IN 1986 ‘Help me find my babies’ CHARLENE SOMDUTH charlene.somduth@inl.co.za IN 1986, KOGIE Perumal kissed and hugged her children goodbye before she left for work. However, little did she know it would be the last day she would see them. According to Perumal, her children, Magdelene and Dellon Perumal, who were then toddlers, were taken by child welfare services based in Pinetown. Perumal said she was later told the children were removed after child welfare officials received an anonymous tip-off that the children were being neglected. For more than three decades, Perumal, 56, who now lives in KwaDukuza, has been searching in vain for her children. Today, Magdelene would be 37 and Dellon, 34. Magdelene was named after Mary Magdalene in the Bible…

Former cop jailed for R1 500 bribe CHANELLE LUTCHMAN chanelle.lutchman@inl.co.za A FORMER policeman, who pleaded guilty to corruption, will spend two years in jail. In March, Zein Mohammed, a warrant officer then stationed at Isipingo SAPS, approached a tavern owner, Pradesh Domanlall, and asked for R1 500. He told Domanlall a previous fine he owed, of R9 000, would be sorted out and he would also notify him beforehand of any raids on his premises. The men agreed to meet on March 13 at the BP petrol station on Prospecton Road in Isipingo. On the day, Domanlall gave Mohammed R1 500. After accepting the cash, members of the Anti-Corruption Unit approached and arrested Mohammed. He was charged with a count of corruption. Last Thursday, Mohammed, 49, kept his head lowered…

TB AND HIV FEARS Man accused of killing wife denied bail for 2nd time JANINE MOODLEY janine.moodley@inl.co.za A MAN accused of stabbing his wife to death told the court during his bail application last Wednesday he could have contracted TB or HIV during his incarceration in Westville Prison. Denver Maqwayne Marimuthoo, 28, of Tongaat, has been detained for nearly nine months after his wife Roxanne Thanthoni was stabbed to death in their home in Watsonia on March 1. His bail application, in the Verulam Magistrate's Court, was turned down for a second time. Marimuthoo, an awaiting trial prisoner, was arrested after 31-year-old Thanthoni's body was found. Shortly after his arrest, he abandoned his bail application. Later, he opted to apply for bail, after switching from Legal Aid to private representation,…

INQUEST Questions around deaths of family in fire CHANELLE LUTCHMAN chanelle.lutchman@inl.co.za THE inquest into the death of a Johannesburg mother and her four children will continue in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court this week. In 2011, Suraya Deedat and her children died after a fire gutted their home in Ormonde, south of Johannesburg. She had gone to check on the children in another room when she noticed the fire. It is alleged the fire started after one of the children’s pillows fell on to an electric heater in their room. While she was trying to wake the children, her husband Naeem collected water from the nearby bathroom to douse the flames. Naeem, who became trapped in the bathroom, shouted through the window for help. His neighbour used an angle grinder to…

SMILED Dad recalls last moments with son NADIA KHAN nadia.khan@inl.co.za THE father of a Reservoir Hills mechanic could not contain his emotions when he testified in the Durban High Court on Monday. Ashen Vishnuduth, 28, of Stanton Street, was arrested and charged for the murder of Navendran Govender on March 6, 2019. Vishnuduth was also charged with robbery with aggravating circumstances, unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition, fraud and escaping from lawful custody. According to the indictment, the State believes that Vishnuduth, who worked at a car rental company and bought and sold cars, decided to rob and kill Govender, 30, as he had a successful business and was in possession of large amounts of cash. Govender, of Orleans Place, was a self-employed mechanic and car restoration speicialist. The…