INLSA
The Durban Regional Court heard yesterday that neither doctor Genchen Ragnath, right, nor his wife, Ravina, knew that the women and girls staying at the doctors hotel were prostitutes. Picture: Sandile Makhoba
Durban – An Umhlanga doctor, accused of keeping a brothel in Durban’s Point area, might not have known that the “girls” staying there were involved in prostitution.
State witness Yvonne Dudu Shinga conceded this on Tuesday when she was cross-examined by the doctor’s defence attorney, Anand Nepaul.
Genchen Ragnath runs a medical practice in Phoenix. He, his wife, Ravina, and three others are standing trial in the Durban Regional Court. They have pleaded not guilty to numerous charges, which include racketeering and trafficking.
Ragnath is the director of Valor-Trade, the company that owns Inntown Lodge (from where the “brothel” was allegedly run).
“Am I correct in saying that, to your knowledge, neither Ragnath nor his wife knew that the girls were engaging in prostitution?” Nepaul asked Shingaon Tuesday. She replied: “He knew the girls were at that place, but I cannot be sure he knew about the prostitution.”
Shinga also told the court that she had not allowed anyone under 20 to rent a room and that she had only allowed guests under 18 to stay there if accompanied by a parent.
Nepaul brought to light numerous contradictions in Shinga’s evidence. She had said she was first employed by the doctor’s wife at Downtown Inn as a cleaner, and then had moved to Inntown to work as a receptionist. Shinga said that she started working at Inntown Lodge in 2006 or 2007 and that a man, known as “Udesh”, was responsible for her transfer.
“But I was instructed that Udesh had left Downtown Inn by March 2004,” said Nepaul.
On Tuesday, Nepaul asked Shinga if she had known a “girl” to spend more than a month at the lodge. She replied: “Yes.” However, he pointed out that when prosecutor Yuri Gangai put the same question to her more than a month ago, her response had been to the contrary. Shinga also said she could neither speak nor write in English, but she had given evidence in English.
The Mercury
