Cape Town - The man accused of killing his girlfriend in her sleep has been referred to the district surgeon after he claimed to suffer from schizophrenia.
Waleed Khan made his first appearance in the Bishop Lavis Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
In the few minutes he stood in the dock, he told magistrate Sean Lea he had been in Karl Bremmer, Valkenberg, and a mental hospital for his illness.
The 49-year-old was apprehended after allegedly killing his girlfriend, Ashura Jantjies, on Sunday morning in Bonteheuwel.
He is facing charges of murder and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition. Lea told Khan he would remain in custody and appear this morning for a Legal Aid representative.
“You will remain in custody and tomorrow you will be sent to the district surgeon for an opinion if you need a mental assessment, in my opinion you do.
“The assessment will determine if you are fit to stand trial or not.”
According to local councillor Angus Mckenzie, Khan shot Jantjies while she was sleeping.
“He is accused of murdering his girlfriend, it was vicious, it was horrific and unexplainable. How could he do this to this young lady?
“The court took a decision to send him for mental assessment to see if he knows the difference between right and wrong. I’m of the opinion that he most certainly did understand what his actions did.
“We will allow the system to do that. He doesn’t deserve to get bail. He took the life of an innocent lady in the most brutal way, especially in this month of women.
“He has shown us that there are still sick people in this society that can shoot a woman to death while she is sleeping peacefully so we will not accept it and make sure he never comes out again. He doesn’t belong in our community.”
Outside court, residents held up placards asking the magistrate to keep the accused locked up. Community member Charlotte Hendricks said she attended court to ensure there was justice for Ashura.
“I was shocked to learn about the murder, but even more shocked that the accused is now playing mad in court. When he committed the crime he was of conscious mind and knew exactly what he was doing. I think this was premeditated because he walked into that room with the pistol.
“As a community we are really sad about this.”
Bonteheuwel Praying Ladies founder Elizabeth Langeveld said the victim was a nice person who was respectful.
“She was a mother, maybe the child woke up and asked for her.
“Why couldn’t he give her a hiding? Why did he have to shoot her?
“She was a quiet woman, who greeted everybody every day, she was very respectful.
“We are not happy with what he did and we pray that our justice system doesn’t fail us this time.”