Man takes on State in bid to recover property

FORCED to live a “tormented life” for eight years after being arrested for allegedly manufacturing and dealing in drugs, Mogenderan Gounden of Newlands West says he will be taking the State to task.

He claims he was brutally beaten and his two properties and a vehicle were seized and auctioned.

Gounden, 52, his wife Nirusha, 43, and a second former co-accused, Manogaran Govender, have been let off the hook after the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) recently decided to stop prosecution.

Gounden told his family had suffered immensely and had been struggling to get back on their feet since the arrest in March 2010.

“We were robbed of eight years of our lives as we never knew what to expect. I have spent 16 days in jail and my wife spent a week.

“Our young children, who were only 10 and 4 at the time, had to watch their father being handcuffed and taken away along with their mother,” he said.

“We lost everything. There were days that we were left hungry as we did not have a plate of food or even money to pay for counselling for our children. Our two properties in Inyanga near the King Shaka airport, which was owned by my great grandparents who worked as indentured labourers, were seized and auctioned in 2013, despite a preservation order being granted in the Durban High Court.”

Gounden’s Toyota Hilux double-cab was also seized by the Asset Forfeiture Unit and auctioned in 2013.

Gounden claimed that a search warrant had not been presented.

“When the police officers came to my gate, they told me they had been monitoring me for five months, but they did not present a search warrant. My entire yard was swarming with police, but not one showed me a warrant.”

Gounden further claims that after he was beaten, his assault case was closed four days later.

“I had opened a case of assault while I was being held in custody. Four days later I found out that the case had been closed and no one could tell me why. I was beaten till I was unconscious on the day of my arrest.

“I was punched in the throat, face, eyes, chest and head. I recall waking up in hospital and being taken straight to the police station to be detained,” he said.

“Those was the hardest days of our lives. I listened to my missus cry every day as she sat in the cell next to mine. I was helpless.”

Gounden added: “Every time I tried to bring to the court’s attention that my properties were being sold, the matter was sidelined. All I want now is for my vehicle and properties to be returned because they hold sacred value to my family.”

He said the matter had started in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court in 2010 and had been transferred to different courts over the years.

“We have spent eight years running to different courts, only for the matter to be withdrawn, struck of the roll, then to be recharged and now acquitted.

“My lawyers are waiting for a response from the prosecuting authority as to why the prosecution was stopped, so that we can go forward with legal action and, most importantly, start rebuilding our lives.”