The Mercury
Lt Krish Reddy the investigating office in the Dr Sewram murder brings a handcuffed Soni to court. Photo: Shan Pillay
Durban – Adultery, a broken friendship, beatings, extortion and murder. Details of these emerged in the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court after the police arrested another suspect for the murder of Northdale doctor Bhavish Sewram, 37, outside his surgery in May.
On Monday, the man the police believed was the mastermind of the killing, businessman Rajivee Soni, 37, was released on R100 000 bail. His wife, he admitted, had had an affair with the murdered doctor, but he did not kill him.
Nevertheless, his name was added to the list of the accused who included Mfaniseni Nxumalo, 34, and Sabelo Dlamini, 24, whose bail applications will take place later this month, and Brian Treasurer, 53, who was granted R50 000 bail, unopposed.
Soni said he was innocent and, even as he stood in the dock, he said the police were trying to extort money from him to keep his co-accused from implicating him when he had nothing to do with the murder.
On Monday, the first details of how a friendship turned sour and hostility led to violence between two families emerged in the affidavit supporting Soni’s bail application, read out by attorney Naren Sangham.
Soni said he and his wife, who was unnamed, experienced “marital discord” in 2011, at a time when Sewram was his friend.
When he suspected his wife and the doctor were having an affair, he approached Sewram’s wife’s parents and both families met.
But, instead of resolving the problem, Sewram’s mother-in-law beat Sewram with a sjambok.
She and her daughter, Sewram’s wife, also sjambokked Soni’s wife. Soni and his brother-in-law stopped the violence.
Soni said he then wanted to end his marriage and began divorce proceedings, which were later stopped when he started reconciling with his wife. He and Sewram also became civil towards each other again, Soni said.
However, before they were reunited, Soni said, he and his wife had obtained domestic violence interdicts against each other.
That case was forwarded to the Mountain Rise Police Station and it was then that police first began extorting money from him.
He said he would reveal details during his trial.
After the arrest of his alleged accomplices, Soni said, a colonel from the station told him that two policemen wanted R50 000 each for persuading the suspects not to plead guilty.
Soni said he refused to be blackmailed and he had nothing to do with the murder of the doctor.
The colonel also told him that Treasurer was going to be arrested and the police could make him go on a “long holiday”.
Treasurer, Soni assumed, was being used by the police. The link between Treasurer, who it is thought drove the killers to the doctor’s surgery, and Soni still has to be explained in court.
On another occasion, Soni was told by a policeman that a warrant was being sought for him, but had not been secured because of the influence of two policemen.
Again money was demanded from him and again he refused to co-operate.
Soni was not considered a flight risk and was granted bail on condition that he report to a police station twice a week and tell the investigating officer if he was leaving the province.
The Mercury
