Mother and son murdered at home after evening prayers
MOMENTS before they were brutally murdered in their Azaadville home in Krugersdorp, Gauteng, Rashida Laher, 60, and her son Hoosein Laher, 34, were carrying out their evening prayer.
On Monday night, six men entered the Laher’s secure Isfahan Street home. The mother and son were bound, gagged, bludgeoned and strangled to death before the men ransacked the house and fled the scene, said police.
Kagiso police station’s Brigadier Sipho Ngubane said: “Ashraf Mohamed . . . who worked for and lived with Rashida, made the gruesome discovery. He returned home after the evening prayer at the nearby mosque and found the security gates and the front door open. He was alarmed because they never left the doors open. He said he called out to Rashida and Hoosein, but got no response.
“He then went into the house and saw blood on the dining room floor. He found Rashida lying in the bedroom and Hoosein was a few feet away from her. He ran out of the house and alerted the neighbours, who called the police.”
Ngubane said the police were looking for the Laher’s domestic worker, Rose Haleem Symon, 39, who may be able to assist with information in the case.
Symon, a live-in domestic worker, had worked for Laher for the past eight months. She was last seen on CCTV footage getting into the car with the six men. Police said she left her passport and cellphone behind.
Ebrahim Essop, Laher’s brother, said his sister and nephew were kind and gentle people and their deaths had left the family shattered. “We are struggling to understand why they were murdered. They would not have resisted the robbers and would have given them anything they wanted.
“They lived in a very secure home. There were no signs of forced entry. We are just hoping the police make a breakthrough in the case soon,” said Essop.
Laher and Hoosein were buried at the Azaadville Cemetery on Tuesday. Police are offering a reward to anyone with information that could assist with an arrest. Contact the investigating officer, Constable Moses Semosa, on 082-834-5047.