The two men accused of murdering well-known Mitchells Plain mechanic Ridhaah Sasman apparently confessed to the police.
This bombshell was dropped as Marwaan Martin and Gaarieth Gelant appeared in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court yesterday on a charge of murder.
The 30-year-old victim was found tied up with rope and cable ties, stabbed multiple times, in the boot of his Renault Mégane in Morgan Village on June 25.
The investigating officer, Sergeant Theunissen, told the court that the two had confessed to the murder.
Gelant allegedly told cops that a week before the murder, he wanted to get Ridhaah back for jolling with his wife.
Theunissen testified: “When the deceased came to the house they did drugs together. They had an argument with the deceased and started choking him and they stabbed him twice in the back.
“Accused number one [Martin] confessed that they then cleaned the house and then wanted to go buy petrol but Gelant couldn’t get the car to start.”
Sasman’s family teared up in court as the investigating officer further read out the merits of the case.
“In the boot, the body was identified, half naked with rope around his hands and feet and cable ties around his neck.”
Martin abandoned his bail application as he had several pending matters while Gelant’s lawyer, Raymond Davies, is pushing for his client’s release.
Davies argued that Gelant was the sole provider for his family, not a flight risk and wouldn’t cause any unrest.
But the State said these were not extraordinary factors to warrant bail.
The matter was postponed to September 4 for bail judgement.
Outside court, Sasman’s emotional sister Nasreen said: “This whole story has been turned around. It’s a ‘he says she says’ story; they always say that the dead can’t talk.”