Khanyisile Nkosi

Khanyisile Nkosi

Double-murder accused Riaz Kadwa came under fire in court yesterday when the prosecutor and the judge questioned his evidence.

Kadwa, 24, is charged with the murder of his parents, Anwar and Munirah, in October 2005.

Testifying on Monday, Kadwa said his mother shot his father before turning the gun on herself.

Yesterday, he said he found his father lying in bed, his body covered in blood. His mother, who had been shot in the abdomen, knelt on the other side of the bed, facing his father.

"My father was rolling on the bed. He kept saying 'Allah is the greatest'."

He stammered as he tried to explain why he did not get help for his dying parents when he found them alive in their bedroom.

Kadwa said he tried to give his mother her gown to cover herself because it was cold.

Judge Fritz van Oosten interjected. He wanted to know why Kadwa worried about clothes instead of helping his injured mother.

The prosecutor said: "You walked into the room and found your father covered in blood. You say he was still alive. Where there is life there is hope. Why didn't you get help to save his life?"

"I tried. I went to the phone but when I saw my father's hand stretching towards me I just stood there. I was shocked," he responded.

Asked by Judge van Oosten why he didn't go to his father to comfort him, Kadwa said the thought didn't cross his mind. He said all he could think of at the time was to stage a robbery.

"I had to protect them, all my life I have been protecting my parents," he said.