‘You lied to authorities to pay accused’s bail,’ defence grills Miguel Louw’s mom
The court heard she signed in as 'Rehana' and attempted to get information from the accused.
Image: ANA file image.
The defence lawyer in the Miguel Louw murder trial has put the murdered boy’s mother under the spotlight after she admitted visiting the accused, Mohamed Ebrahim, in jail.
Representing 44-year-old Ebrahim, attorney Jay Naidoo revealed that Raylene Louw visited the man and pretended that she was paying his bail.
She signed in as ‘Rehana’ and attempted to get information from the accused, the court heard.
“You went to pay his bail and he refused to let you pay his bail. Is that not correct?”
Louw responded that she was desperate to find her missing son.
“I was stressed out, I wanted answers and to find my son. I was desperate. You will do anything to try to get your son back. Especially when the accused is the last person seen with your son.”
Naidoo also pointed out that the mother visited Ebrahim in prison on September 2, 2018, but that Ebrahim had been in custody since July 20, 2018.
“You said the reason for seeing the accused to find out about your son was because [you’re] desperate. You say you did this out of desperation. Did your desperation not push you to speak to him earlier than September 2?”
“You let the whole of August go without going to ask these questions, and then you go to prison after his bail has been fixed. I put it to you that you wanted to pay his bail for some other reason.”
Louw denied this.
“I just wanted to see his face and get answers.”
Naidoo also said that Louw had been involved in a relationship with her former husband’s brother and said the brother-in-law couldn’t be contacted days after Miguel went missing.
“Is it not true that no one could find him? Did you look for him? What exactly happened to [him] during that period of time?”
Louw said she didn’t know his whereabouts.
“I was in a very difficult state of mind. I was not paying attention to where he was.”
Her son went missing on July 17, 2018, and his badly decomposed remains were found a stone’s throw away from Ebrahim’s home in Longbury Drive, Phoenix. He was also the last person seen with the boy.
The matter continues.
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