‘Forced to plead guilty’

FOUR accused charged with kidnapping businesswoman Sandra Munsamy attempted to prove they were assaulted by police and forced to plead guilty.

In a trial within a trial in the Durban High Court this week, Lucas Ndlovu, Dumisani Radebe, Jose O’ Tember and Arthur Da Silva Mondlane claimed innocence of the kidnapping on May 30, 2019.

Munsamy spent 162 days in captivity before she was rescued by law enforcement agencies on November 7, 2019, in a house in Gauteng.

The accused claimed they were assaulted by police following their arrest in Gauteng. They said they only pleaded guilty because they were assaulted at the Douglasdale police station in Sandton.

Constable Thando Mathabatha, one of the arresting officers, denied the claims during court proceedings.

“We handcuffed the suspects and read them their rights once they were arrested. It was not our job to interrogate the witness. Once we arrived at the Douglasdale police station, the accused were handed over to Brigadier Govender and Constable Buthelezi. There were many mobile offices at this station.

“We took one of the accused into one office and watched over him, while Brigadier Govender and Constable Buthelezi took the other accused and interrogated him in another office. After about 15 minutes, the accused was returned to the office we were in, and another suspect was taken away for questioning.

“The demeanour of the accused was okay after they returned from interrogation. They were calm, and I could not see any injuries,” said Mathabatha.

He said, following the interrogation, all the accused were transported by police to the Brooklyn police station in Mpumalanga. Police and a tactical team conducted a raid on two of the suspects’ homes.

Mathabatha said the accused were with police at the time of the raids. While he watched over the accused, they remained calm, confused and did not sustain any injuries during police questioning.

The case resumes on Wednesday.