Toddler’s mother testifies in court
A STATE witness in the case involving Mohammed Raheesh Isoof, the New Zealand bus driver facing criminal charges for the death of a Nadi family, told the High Court in Lautoka that most of the things she revealed in court were not asked by police when her statement was taken in 2019.
Sangeeta Devi, the mother of the 11-month-old baby found alive near the bodies of five family members in the Nausori Highlands, revealed this when she was cross-examined by defence counsel Iqbal Khan.
Ms Devi lives in Sydney, Australia, and shared on Wednesday conversations she had with her family in the days leading up to their deaths.
Mr Khan told Ms Devi that a few things she told the court in her testimonials were not true.
She, however, maintained that police did not ask her about some of the details she revealed in court this week.
Ms Devi is the daughter of Nirmal Kumar and Usha Devi, the
A police officer at the scene where the body of a man was found at Wailea settlement in Vatuwaqa, Suva. Police have classified the death of the man as murder. elderly couple whose bodies were discovered alongside another daughter, Nileshni Kajal, and her two children.
The defence also noted in crossexamination that the witness did not mention anything about the accused in a statement she gave to police on August 30, 2019.
She said police had confined questions to the family home in Legalega, Nadi, and not to statements she made about the Sabeto hills.
Mr Isoof is facing five counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
It is alleged that between August 25 and August 26, 2019, he murdered three adults and two children and attempted to murder an 11-monthold child by abandoning her at the Nausori Highlands in Nadi.
The trial continues today with the State having already called 25 witnesses.
Both counsels are expected to file written submission to Judge Justice Thushara Rajasinghe today on a voir dire application filed by the defence on the admissibility of DNA.