Mommy 'did not kill daddy'

2007-10-31 17:57

Cape Town - Najwa Peterson's 8-year-old daughter has told a psychiatrist that her mother did not kill her father.

This emerged in the testimony of psychiatrist Dr Rosa Bredenkamp during Peterson's second bail application, before magistrate Robert Henney, in the Wynberg Regional Court on Wednesday.

Bredenkamp read to the court a transcript of her discussions with the girl, calling them "Zainub's story".

Zainub told her she was 8-years-old and that her father and mother were "the most important people in my life".

She got on with "everyone", but other important people in her life were her teacher, her aunts, uncles, and cousins.

"I sleep with my aunt since they took my mother away," she told Bredenkamp.

'Daddy did not look angry'

Talking about the night her father died, the girl said she was asleep at the time.

"They held a gun to my daddy's head, then they shot him. Mommy told me daddy was dead. I burst out crying, and mommy cried also," she told Bredenkamp.

"The next day was daddy's funeral, and there were lots of people. My daddy did not look angry. It looked as if he was asleep."

The 8-year-old said both she and her mother cried.

"Mommy is in jail, they blame her for killing daddy. She did not kill daddy."

Double blow

Zainub told the psychiatrist that she loved and missed her mother and wanted her to come home.

"She said she's coming home in September, but she did not. My grandpa died on September 30, in a car smash.

"Children at school ask me about daddy, and if mommy's in jail

"When I ask mommy what she misses most, she says sleeping in daddy's arms."

Bredenkamp told the court the girl considered the prison authorities "very rude", for not allowing her to stay in prison with her mother

She said the girl needed closeness and to be constantly reassured.

Zainub was weepy, battled to sleep at night and was anxious about when her mother would return home, Bredenkamp testified.

The hearing continues on Thursday.

- SAPA