NATIONAL NEWS - Zainab Abraham, the mother of the murdered Jamillah van Staden, is in pain after her daughter was stabbed to death on January 8 in Forest Hill.
Speaking to the COURIER on behalf of the family, Jerome Lottering, Jamillah’s uncle, said they are heartbroken about what happened on that fateful night. “Besides the pain, we are shocked at the way she died.
It was brutal. The multiple defence wounds in her hands and arms say a lot.
“When the neighbours heard the shouting and screaming, they tried to call the police. If they responded in time, there would be a possibility that she would be alive. The ordeal took almost two hours. We appreciate the neighbours for rescuing her three children: two boys aged 10 and three and her eight-year-old girl.
“The neighbour had to drive to the police station because there was no help forthcoming. Then the police responded, which makes us angry because there could have been a chance that they could have saved her. Even on the scene when we asked them what took them so long, they couldn’t give me a straight answer,” explained Lottering.
He said it is a very difficult time for the family and for the children who witnessed the incident.
“We are worried about their psychological well-being. That is why we are trying to get social workers to debrief them.
“We are at a loss for words because the suspect is not a stranger to us. We all know him. Our country is going through this scourge of gender-based violence. I can’t imagine how Jamillah’s mother feel because she had a protection order against him as there was a history of abuse,” he said.
Booysens SAPS communications officer Capt Lorraine van Emmerik confirmed they are investigating a case of murder. “The suspect was arrested on the same night as the incident. He was taken to hospital for stitches and brought back to the station, where he was placed in custody.
“The suspect appeared in court on January 11 and was remanded in custody until January 21 for further investigation,” she said.
