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Murder accused Rameez Patel ran past his brother, Razeen, and stormed into his house in Nirvana, Polokwane, where he allegedly shot and killed his wife who was packing her stuff with the intention to leave.
This is contained in Razeen's statement which was again read into the record in the Limpopo High Court in Polokwane on Tuesday on the insistence of the defence team, led by advocate Johann Engelbrecht, after some parts were earlier omitted.
Razeen was not in court on Tuesday.
In the statement, Razeen who is the prosecution's star witness and under heavy protection after being flown from United Kingdom, detailed the events of October 4, 2015, when his accused brother, Rameez, allegedly shot dead his wife, Fatima, after a fierce argument.
Razeen said he was at Rameez's house fixing a car tyre when Fatima came back and started to pack her stuff. Fifteen minutes later, Patel arrived and stormed into the house where he had an argument with his wife. Rameez's son ran out of the house in a hysterical state.
Razeen said he went into the house but was pushed out by Rameez: "I left because I'm afraid of him as he has assaulted me on several occasions in the past."
He said Rameez later phoned him to meet at a warehouse.
"His hair was wet and he had changed his clothes. He had bloodied clothes and a gun which were put in a box and I hid them in a warehouse."
Evidence hidden
Just after 17:00 on the same day he, Rameez and a helper named as Sibongile in the documents went back to Rameez's house. Sibongile saw blood in the house and Rameez started screaming, "Fati, Fati, Fati", while holding his wife's lifeless body.
Rameez was arrested a week later for the murder of his wife.
Razeen said Nazreen, who married Rameez after Fatima's death, later demanded the box hidden in the warehouse.
READ: Rameez Patel fails in bid to secure bail in mother's murder case
He said he was also ordered to destroy Fatima's phone as police may trace it.
"Nazreen later told me she had burnt the stuff (in the box) except the gun," Razeen said in a statement.
Prosecutor advocate Lethabo Mashiane informed Judge Joseph Raulinga that Razeen could not be in court on Tuesday because of a serious illness that had struck a close relative the previous night.
It was earlier reported that Razeen has sought sanctuary in the United Kingdom after he was shot several times – four weeks after the arrest of Rameez. Ali Salman has since been arrested in connection with the shooting and is out on bail.
Mother and father killed
Rameez is also facing charges for the murder of his mother, Mahajeen, who was shot dead apparently after Razeen told her of the circumstances around the murder of Fatima.
Nazreen's father, Yunus Mayet, was kidnapped and shot dead in September this year. Rameez's father, Feroz, was shot dead in an unsolved murder in 2016. Rameez has not been charged in the murders of the two men.
Rameez was granted bail for the murder of Fatima but remains in custody for the killing of his mother, Mahajeen.
The case has been postponed to Thursday, November 22, 2018.
