Babita Deokaran: 6 Suspects Formally Charged with Murder

• Seven perpetrators have been nabbed by a team of police officers in connection with the brutal murder of 53-year-old Babita Deokaran
• Deokaran was a whistleblower in a case of a PPE tender scandal being investigated by the Special Investigating Unit
• Reports state that Deokaran had been monitored by the seven suspects, all from KwaZulu-Natal, for over a month

DURBAN - Investigations into the murder of Gauteng Health Department's senior financial officer Babita Deokaran has resulted in the arrest of seven suspects. The suspects appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on Monday, 30 August where six of them were charged with Deokaran's murder.

The seventh suspect in the case has had the charges against them provisionally withdrawn pending a probe, according to EWN. Officials say the charges against the seventh suspect have been provisionally withdrawn pending an investigation.

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Reports from Daily Maverick revealed that just a day after Deokaran's family was visited by the Gauteng Health Department, they were informed that a department senior official threatened Deokaran.

The suspects were arrested on Friday, 27 August, from two separate properties in Gauteng. The report by the well-known publication revealed that the perpetrators were from KwaZulu-Natal and had been watching Deokaran for a while.

The seven suspects are facing charges of the illegal possession of ammunition and unlicensed firearms as well as murder. According to TimesLIVE, the killers had watched Deokaran for over a month, and three days after her murder, they were traced by CCTV cameras.

Babita Deokaran: Foundations say the murder of PPE tender witness was an organised hit

Briefly News previously reported that Amnesty International South Africa and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation have raised their concerns about the murder of Babita Deokaran. Deokaran was a senior Gauteng Health Department Finance official who was a witness in a scandal involving personal protective equipment.

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The 53-year-old mother was shot dead earlier this week shortly after she dropped her child off at school. Director of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation Neeshan Balton believes that the murderers waited for Deokaran outside her house.

He stated that the killers planned a professional hit and even jammed the CCTV cameras in the area where she lived. Balton, according to EWN, visited Deokaran's house and saw her car covered in bullet holes.

Balton added that if the allegations that are emerging are true, then her murder was an "extremely professional" hit.

Source: Briefly News