Rif’at’s ’killers’ off hook
|Published
VICTIM: Rif’at Booranoodien, 29, from Schaapkraal was kidnapped
Grassy Park police have slammed the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) after they withdrew the charges against seven people arrested for the murder of Rif’at Booranoodien.
Colonel Dawood Laing says after months of hard work to bring Rif’at’s alleged killers to justice, detectives were left devastated when their case was withdrawn.
The 29-year-old electrician from Schaapkraal went missing on 21 February while driving his Audi A3 in Grassy Park.
His worried parents reported the matter to police after he failed to return home.
It was later revealed that a Parkwood man, Fazrie Benjamin, had tried to extort money from the parents.
Cops busted Benjamin along with his girlfriend Mishka Francis and his brother Ashreeq Benjamin, as they were the last people seen with Rif’at.
The trio were charged with extortion and kidnapping.
In April, cops made another breakthrough when they busted four alleged members of the Flakka Boys gang.
Sarfaraaz Kumandan, Wesley Jaftha, Jeremy Fredericks and Freddy Williams showed cops where Rif’at was shot and buried by them on a veldjie in Seawinds.
DNA tests confirmed the body was Rif’at’s.
Laing says last month they were informed the matter was provisionally withdrawn due to a lack of evidence.
“How the prosecutor came to that conclusion I don't know because they (suspects) showed us where the body was. This is why people lose faith in the justice system.”
Dad Anwar, 57, says: “It’s been months of heartache for us and both my wife and I are on medication just to sleep.
“Rif’at was killed for a car and despite them showing where they buried the body, we get told there is not enough evidence.”
According to NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila this was an extremely serious case without any “real evidence”, while the officer who initially investigated the missing person’s docket was deemed “too inexperienced” for a murder case.
He says the state requested that a more experienced detective be given the case.
“The senior state prosecutor was very concerned about this due to the fact that this person had no investigating experience and that the contents of the docket were rather confusing.
“This was due to the fact that statements were taken (including that of a later accused) in the missing persons investigation and a lot of the statements were not focusing on the murder.
“The prosecutor did not withdraw this matter on first appearance although he could have based it on the lack of evidence.
“SAPS initially arrested three persons for extortion – there was NO evidence against them.
“The senior state prosecutor wrote extensive queries in the docket trying to guide the investigation in building a case.”
He says once the investigation is completed, the NPA will study the docket again to decide whether or not to prosecute.
But Laing says the NPA is wrong as police provided statements from the family linking the accused to the extortion.
“If there was no real evidence, what do they call a body that has been shot multiple times?” he asks.
“It is clear evidence Rif’at was murdered and the accused were part of it, as they told us where to find the body.”