Cape Town - Fourteen years after Junaid Desai strangled his 8-year-old son Yunus Desai to death and left his lifeless body underneath a tree, he was released on parole this week without the mother of the victim being informed.
Yunus’s mother Rene Jonkers said she had been contacted by the Victim Offender Dialogue programme a year ago for Desai’s parole consideration, but that she had received no communication since and had to hear from relatives and the media that he was granted parole this week.
On September 20, Correctional Services authorities confirmed Desai had been freed on parole, leaving Jonkers frantic and overwhelmed.
“Where will he be staying, I am so on my nerves. I am feeling hurt all over again. I do not know how to feel. This was so unfair for them not to consult me.”
Department of Correctional Services spokesperson Candice van Reenen confirmed his release but did not comment on the conditions of his bail, such as whether he would be permitted in Mitchells Plain where the victim’s mother lives, or if he would be allowed around other children.
“Inmate Junaid Desai has been granted parole. He will serve the remainder of his sentence under the Community Corrections programme, as of September 20. He will be on parole until his sentence expires in 2034.”
Van Reenen said in their response they made attempts to include the mother: “DCS made contact with the victim (mother) on several occasions to form part of the parole process.
“Note that we cannot enforce that any victim(s) be part of the process, it is voluntary.”
Activist Michael Jacobs of the Mitchells Plain Residents’ Association said they were concerned about the rate of parolees in the district in recent weeks and months, which included the man dubbed the Station Strangler, Norman “Afzal” Simons, and Zulfa Jacobs.
Simons was granted parole in July, 28 years after he was convicted of the murder of 10-year-old Elroy van Rooyen.
Jacobs was granted parole 12 years after she murdered her 2-year-old son, Tariq Jacobs, in Mitchells Plain.
“I have engaged with Correctional Services on the matter of further engaging with the public when it comes to parole,” he said. “On the issue of parole and remission of sentences, the public must also have engagement. I will call for a public meeting with public representatives where they must come and explain their processes of parole to our communities.”
Jacobs took to Facebook a year ago when he had first heard of Desai’s parole bid. He said he was shocked that after just 12 years the process had begun, and this week he contacted the necessary departments.
Desai had been sentenced to 24 years’ imprisonment for the murder, which took place in 2009, and he was sentenced in 2010.
In a written confession, Desai admitted that he had fetched his son from Merrydale Primary School in Mitchells Plain and drove with him in a confused state of not knowing what to do with him, claiming the child had previously told him he was not happy with his living conditions.
Desai admitted that he strangled Yunus underneath a tree and left his body still dressed in his school uniform.
His mother had reported him missing and a frantic search began. Nine days later, the body was discovered along sand dunes between Jakes Gerwel Drive and Morgenster.