A Gauteng man accused of brutally murdering and raping his four-year-old niece stood quietly in the dock as his trial was set down for March.
On Thursday Sarel du Toit, 23, appeared in the Pretoria High Court sitting in Delmas, where he is charged with the rape and murder of his niece Jasmin Pretorius.
Earlier in the week the court granted an application for Du Toit to undergo psychological evaluation. However, on Thursday prosecutor Annalie Coetzee told the court that Pretoria’s Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital currently had no bed available for Du Toit.
In addition, Coetzee told the court that no private psychiatrist was currently available to sit on the panel to evaluate Du Toit. The panel is to be made up of three practitioners – two state-appointed and one private practitioner.
The court ordered that Du Toit remain in custody until Weskoppies could accommodate him.
Jasmin’s battered body was discovered in her father Morné Pretorius’s Brakpan flat, east of Johannesburg, in December last year.
Pretorius, who is divorced from Jasmin’s mother, Sasha Lee Bam, shared the flat with family members, including his half-brother Du Toit.
No bed at Weskoppies for child rape and murder accused
A Gauteng man accused of brutally murdering and raping his four-year-old niece stood quietly in the dock as his trial was set down for March.
On Thursday Sarel du Toit, 23, appeared in the Pretoria High Court sitting in Delmas, where he is charged with the rape and murder of his niece Jasmin Pretorius.
Earlier in the week the court granted an application for Du Toit to undergo psychological evaluation. However, on Thursday prosecutor Annalie Coetzee told the court that Pretoria’s Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital currently had no bed available for Du Toit.
In addition, Coetzee told the court that no private psychiatrist was currently available to sit on the panel to evaluate Du Toit. The panel is to be made up of three practitioners – two state-appointed and one private practitioner.
The court ordered that Du Toit remain in custody until Weskoppies could accommodate him.
Jasmin’s battered body was discovered in her father Morné Pretorius’s Brakpan flat, east of Johannesburg, in December last year.
Pretorius, who is divorced from Jasmin’s mother, Sasha Lee Bam, shared the flat with family members, including his half-brother Du Toit.