‘Suicide by stabbing’ under fire

Deceased doctor’s family suspicious of original police finding; now NPA is seeking a Timol-type investigation

bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za WHAT are the odds of someone stabbing herself four times until she dies?

The family of deceased Pretoria doctor Evah Lebelo have been tormented by this question for more than two years.

Lebelo died mysteriously on August 1, 2016 at the Danville, Pretoria West, home she shared with her boyfriend.

Caught up in a love triangle, the 47-year-old Lebelo allegedly died after a bitter quarrel with the boyfriend on the morning of that fateful day.

The love triangle apparently involved a woman believed to have been dating Lebelo’s boyfriend.

The Pretoria West police and the boyfriend informed Lebelo’s family that she had stabbed herself to death inside a locked bedroom.

An inquest that police opened to look into her death proved inconclusive, leaving the version that she committed suicide as the only one remaining in the State documents.

The Lebelo family, based in Limpopo, were aggrieved by how the police conducted the inquest.

“It (inquest) simply never happened,” said the deceased’s brother, William Lebelo.

“Even the boyfriend was never taken in for questioning. Had I not gone to the prosecutor’s office, no one would ever have known that there’s a docket like this.”

Gauteng police spokesperson Kay Makhubele declined to comment, saying that only the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had the authority to speak on the matter.

The Star can reveal that the NPA has taken over the docket from the police and referred it to a magistrate for a formal inquest hearing.

Phindi Mjonondwane, the NPA Gauteng spokesperson, said prosecutors approached the magistrate two weeks ago.

“The docket has been referred to the magistrate for an inquest hearing. This after we received the docket from the police,” she said.

“With the evidence that is contained in the police docket, we couldn’t link any suspects, hence we referred the matter to an inquest inquiry.”

This judicial process looks set to be run similarly to the one that looked into the 1971 death of anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Timol.

Judge Billy Mothle dispelled the apartheid regime’s claim that Timol committed suicide and recommended the prosecution of retired sergeant Joao Roderiques. Said Mjonondwane: “The inquest will try to establish the circumstances surrounding the person’s death.

“It doesn’t stop anyone who has information that could shed light on what transpired from coming forward.”

Joseph Ntsoane, the family’s lawyer, said he would write to the NPA to get details about the inquest.

“We want to be part of the process. We’ve got witnesses that we want to be part of the inquest (by testifying),” he said.

The Lebelos never believed that Evah, who worked at Kalafong Hospital and Steve Biko Academic Hospital, committed suicide.

“Do they want us to believe she had the power to stab herself four times and fracture her ribs?” Lebelo asked. “You know, when you’re cutting onion and you cut yourself, you stop immediately.”

Lebelo said his sister had so much to live for, especially her two children.

“She loved her children and her books. She was furthering her studies to become a specialist doctor,” said Lebelo.