Final moments of Sadia Sukhraj to be revealed as 'hijacker' goes on trial

The grieving family of nine-year-old Sadia Sukhraj, who died during a botched hijacking in Chatsworth last year, is set to finally get closure when the trial of the man accused of her death gets under way in the Durban high court on Tuesday. 

Sibonelo Mkhize was arrested after the hijacking of the car in which the Shallcross schoolgirl was travelling. He faces two charges of murder, the second relating to the death of his alleged accomplice.

Sadia had been with her father, Shailendra Sukhraj, on their way to school when they were accosted in the driveway of her grandfather's home in Shallcross.

The two attackers escaped with the father's car, with his daughter still inside. The criminals collided with a truck and lost control of the car‚ which spun and came to rest in a neighbourhood park.

When Mkhize was indicted in November, the court heard that Shailendra Sukhraj had shot at the escaping car.

"While on the way to school in the morning, her father drove her to her grandparents’ home in Himalaya Drive in Shallcross. She was seated in the rear of the car,"  said prosecutor Sipho Mhlongo. 

While the car was parked in the driveway,  two men accosted the pair. One of them was Mkhize, said Mhlongo. 

"The assailants were armed and demanded the car keys from the father at gunpoint. He threw the car keys to them, whereafter they both entered the vehicle."

The case is set down for two weeks.