Cape Town - The family of the man who was killed before he was placed in the boot of his car say they want the alleged killers to stay in jail.
Marwaan Martin and Gaarieth Gelant were arrested for the murder of Ridaah Sasman.
They appeared in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court for a bail application, but the case was postponed to August 8 for further investigation.
The 30-year-old was last seen by his mother on June 23. His family found his body in the boot of his Renault Megane with his hands and feet bound. He was undressed and had been stabbed multiple times.
Sasman left his home at about 1am that day to drop off someone in Lentegeur. A few hours later, his family received a peculiar text message from his number asking for money.
Sasman’s sister, Nazreen Sasman, told the Cape Argus: “We were suspicious because he never wrote texts, he would send voice notes, and even if he did, he wouldn’t write words in full.
“That is how we knew we were not dealing with him. The message was asking for R2 000. He said he was stuck in Philippi and needed a tow truck.”
Sasman’s car, containing his body, was found in Martin’s driveway. Martin and Gelant are facing charges of murder and kidnapping.
Sasman’s aunt, Lameez Dollie, said: “We want justice to be served. It won’t ease anything but the mindset.
“As the family, we are united because we know there is nothing that was funny from his side. We know that he was lured to where he was killed. It’s tragic how it happened and how it was done, and that is the pain that we are suffering from.
“He never deserved that. From the start, we thought we couldn’t deal with it, so we will go to court for justice. I feel that as a unit we stand for all the moms who lost their children senselessly,” she said.
Dollie said the accused should not get bail. She said one of the accused said he helped put the body in the boot.
“He (Sasman) was an acquaintance of the killers. They didn’t visit each other; they knew him through his work. He was a mechanic,” she said.
Dollie said Sasman’s mother was not doing well emotionally.
“We spend a lot of time with her. We have decided we now need psychological help for her because she is not dealing with the murder.
“That is very sad for us because they had such a strong bond.
“On Tuesday, it was a month since his passing, and we fetched her and spent time with her. She said to me that she can’t even face her grandchildren; she will break down in front of them. She needs to fix herself first.”