Baby Jamie case set for high court

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has yet to make a ruling on whether the case should be transferred from Chatsworth to the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban.

Thirty-year-old Patricia Kershie Ishwarial and her mother Salatchee Venilla Basanich, 55, are charged with beating the three year old to death at their home in Chatsworth in November.

Three-year-old baby Jamie’s body was found in her grandmother’s bed with bruising. Her fingernails and toe nails had been yanked off. She also had cigarette burns on her body.

Last month the court ordered that Ishwarial undergo a mental evaluation at the Fort Napier mental institution.

A curator’s report presented to court had stated that Ishwarial had sustained head injuries during a car accident in 2001, which affected her mental health.

The Citizen has established that Ishwarial has completed her mental evaluation at the Pietermaritzburg-based mental institution.

Based on the evaluation report, there is now a strong chance of the trial taking place at the high court.

The decision by the DPP will be heard when the two women return to court on July 7.

The murder of baby Jamie has left the community of Chatsworth, as well as the country in a state of shock.

Community members who staged a protest outside the court have previously called for the return of the death penalty.

They also urged the court not grant bail to the two accused.