Grisly death follows Facebook affair
A British man paid the ultimate price after becoming entangled in the web of an alleged South African “black widow”.
The charred remains of Jamnadas Harkant Nathvani, 71, were identified two weeks ago, almost eight months after he travelled to SA from India — where he had been on a pilgrimage — to meet Zaheera Boomgaard, a Gauteng woman he met on Facebook.
Boomgaard has since been arrested and charged with the kidnapping and murder of Nathvani and her friend Lynette Mustapha.
It was Mustapha’s charred remains, also found in Walkerville, south of Johannesburg, that led police to crack the case of the missing man.
Police have not revealed the motive for the killings. Boomgaard is, however, also charged with several counts of fraud and the theft of Mustapha’s vehicle.
She is also linked to the disappearance of 83-year-old retired naval engineer John Naisby, who travelled from Cape Town to Walkerville to meet her after they began an online romance on Facebook.
Naisby told his wife in 2012 that he was going to Gauteng to meet a woman by the name of Zaheera Wookey. He has not been seen since, but money was withdrawn from his bank account days after his disappearance.
Police have confirmed that Boomgaard went by the name Zaheera Wookey in 2012. In that year, police questioned her about Naisby, as she was the last person who had seen him. She was arrested for the illegal possession of ammunition, but the charges were dropped. Police have confirmed that she is linked to Naisby’s disappearance and investigations are continuing.
Police spokesperson Col Brenda Muridili said Boomgaard was also linked to “other cases with pending investigations”.
Muridili said Nathvani landed at OR Tambo International Airport on January 25.
“On May 6, the daughter of the deceased, Mala Nathvani, called the Newcastle police and requested their assistance to locate her father.
“She just had an address where he stayed shortly after his arrival. The deceased was not found at the address and according to information he left towards the end of February,” she said.
Police identified a “person of interest” within 48 hours of opening a formal missing person case on May 10.
“The location of Mr Nathvani, alive or dead, was the biggest challenge. The person of interest, during interviews with the investigating team, kept insisting that Mr Nathvani was still alive,” Muridili said.
During this time, Nathvani’s Facebook account was still active, with posts saying he was fed up with the lockdown in SA. However, friends and family, who had commented on the posts, were sceptical that he had created them.
The breakthrough came on August 8 when a charred body was found in the De Deur area near Vereeniging.
“She was identified by means of fingerprints as Lynette Mustapha,” Muridili said.
“Other evidence on the crime scene was also followed up and assisted with the targeted identification process. Investigations confirmed that charred remains that had been found on March 11 were that of Mr Nathvani.”
His identity was confirmed by DNA obtained from the UK and dental records from India.
Postmortem results revealed signs of blunt and sharp force trauma.
Nathvani’s children asked SA Community Crime Watch to facilitate the cremation of the retired accountant according to Hindu rites.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana confirmed that Boomgaard had appeared at the Vereeniging magistrate’s court on October 12 on t wo counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping and several charges of theft and fraud.
Boomgaard is scheduled to apply for bail tomorrow.