Revenge allegedly the motive for Miguel Louw's murder

The 43-year-old man accused of killing Miguel Louw had an argument with the nine-year-old boy's mother before he allegedly kidnapped him.

That is according to an indictment presented in the Durban Magistrate's Court on Thursday where Mohammed Vahed Ebrahim appeared on murder and kidnapping charges.

"As a result the accused decided to kill the deceased in order to exact revenge on the deceased's mother," states the indictment presented to the court on Thursday.

According to the indictment, Ebrahim occasionally stayed with the Louw family in Sydenham and would perform odd jobs around the home.

"During the afternoon of Tuesday July 17 2018, the accused lured the deceased from school to a nearby food outlet. He bought food for him and then left with the boy.

"At some stage, and in circumstances unknown to the state, the accused killed the deceased and left his body in the bushy area adjacent to Longbury Drive, Phoenix," the indictment stated.

It did not say how and when Ebrahim allegedly killed Miguel as the autopsy could not ascertain the cause "due to decomposition and skeletonisation".

However, suffocation was not ruled out.

The child's decomposed remains were found several weeks later in a park in Phoenix, a short distance from Ebrahim's family home.

The murder charge was officially brought against Ebrahim in December when he stepped out of the dock after a short appearance on the kidnapping charge.

During his first application for bail, the court heard that Ebrahim had slept in a shed on a foam mattress after becoming estranged from his family.

He was working as a butcher at the time. He entered Miguel's life as an acquaintance of the boy's mother, Raylene. The two worked at the same butchery.

He lived with Miguel and his mother for two weeks before the two had an altercation.

When he was first arrested‚ he was found in possession of Miguel's original birth certificate‚ as well as Raylene's ID.

Ebrahim will stand trial in the Durban High Court in October.