Court
The Laudium Sun team was at the Pretoria Magistrates Court this past Wednesday from 9am, when Fatima and four others implicated in the kidnapping and subsequently charged by police, appeared for a bail hearing which only started shortly before lunch and resumed after lunch. The 5 accused who appeared in court were; Accused No 1, Yann Koka (40), a black male. Accused No 2, Fatima Ismail (47), an Indian woman and the wife of the victim. Accused No 3, Khumo Digomo (32), a black male. Accused No 4, Lyanda Sapo (44), a black male and Accused No 5, Yusef Moola (34), an Indian male (with a beard).
It was learnt in court that an amount of R5M wad demanded from the victim and R113K was apparently already transferred from Baboo’s bank account into the account of accused no 5, Yusef Moola. Bail was denied for four of the suspects as police had apparently not yet processed their credentials. However, Accused No 2, Fatima Ismail was released on R5K bail which was not opposed by the police (state). Fatima was represented by upcoming criminal lawyer and local resident, Muhammad Farouk Valjee (Charlies Motor Trimmers), while Yusef was represented by Ebrahim Omar, of Zahir Omar Attorneys. Two of the other accused were represented by Attorney Bronwynne Forbay, whilst the other was represented by Adv Mashishi from Jhb. Fatima was charged with kidnapping, while the other four accused were charged with kidnapping, extortion and POCA (Prevention of Crime Act). It was revealed that Baboo was threatened that he would be killed should he not co-operate with the kidnappers and he was also beaten up by them, thus the four accused also face other possible charges. The respective legal representatives of the four accused (besides Fatima), told the court that their clients were beaten up by police, forcing them to make a confession. Magistrate Mfulwane then ruled that the four should be seen by a prison doctor and that a J 7 form should be filled in, to be presented at the next hearing, being Monday Dec 9. The courtroom on Wednesday was full from the morning with about thirty people, seemingly Fatima’s family members and friends, there to support her, with some watching with hawkish eyes if anyone was taking photos of Fatima as she left the court. One person from the group of thirty grabbed the cellphone of a person caught taking photos of Fatima and deleted the photos. Not to be intimidated, the Laudium Sun team took several photos of the crowd and of Fatima as she left the court building. Fatima, who schooled in Benoni, has three grown up children from her first husband and lived for years with her family on Taj Street in Laudium. Her first husband is presently the manager of a local business (name omitted to protect the kids and the former husband from this scandal). She then apparently married for the second time for a short while and thereafter married Baboo. It is believed that Baboo provided a flat in Laudium for the three grown up kids.
