A 53-year-old Indian-origin woman was killed in South Africa for allegedly providing critical information about a multi-million-Dollar PPE fraud during COVID-19 lockdown in the country last year. This prompted the authorities to launch a high-level investigation into the incident.
Babita Deokaran, who was a senior official at Gauteng provincial Department of Health, was shot multiple times through her car door when she returned home in a Johannesburg suburb after dropping her child at school on Tuesday. She was rushed to hospital but succumbed to her injuries.
A high-level investigation has been launched into the killing of Deokaran, who had provided critical information regarding a more than 330 million rand (over $20 million) fraud into the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa last year. Serious Crime Investigation Unit (SIU) spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago stated that Deokaran had been one of the witnesses in the investigation by the unit into corruption in the health department, which was already nearing an end. He also stated that Deokaran had never indicated that she felt threatened by her participation in the process.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura stated that a dedicated provincial police task team has been established to hunt down the perpetrators. The SIU in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has also been investigating claims by informed sources that Deokaran’s murder is linked to the information she had provided on fraud allegations.
