Johannesburg, March 25 The trial of six South African women of Indian origin, accused of stealing jewellery worth over R3.2 million from a renowned jewellery store in Durban, has commenced nearly three years after the incident, a media report said on Wednesday.
The women were arrested in September 2023 and are currently out on bail of South African Rand (R) 20,000 each.
The accused, including store managers Nailash Lala (61) and Reshmar Raghubar (39), along with sales representatives Samendrie Pillai (30), Yagna Ramdeen (29), Kamentha Pillay (28) and Sashmila Rajkumar (34), appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court last week.
The state’s first witness, Vishnu Pather, director of the jewellery store, testified that the alleged theft was first brought to his attention by a sales representative in June 2023, and said that while three expensive watches were initially found missing, further investigation revealed irregularities dating back to February 2018.
"The fact that this incident happened, I felt very hurt. It alarmed me. It was only until further investigations were conducted that I came to know what actually transpired," Pather was reported as saying by the weekly Post on Wednesday.
All six accused have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The trial is expected to continue later this year.