Haron family calls for re-opening of inquest

MAHMOOD SANGLAY

FEBRUARY 8, 2019 would have been the 95th birthday of Imam Abdullah Haron, who was martyred on September 27, 1969.

The Imam Abdullah Haron Foundation hosted a special media conference last month coinciding with Imam Haron’s birthday, on February 8, to make two special announcements. The first was of a campaign and series of events to mark the 50th year of commemoration of the Imam’s death in detention.

The second, but more significant announcement, was of the intention of the Haron family to launch an application to re-open the inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of the Imam in police custody after 123 days in detention – hence the theme of the campaign #123 days.

Fatima Haron-Masoet, the youngest daughter of Imam Haron, officially announced the family’s intention to apply for the re-opening of the inquest into her father’s death.

In a moving statement, Haron- Masoet, who was six years old when her father was killed, said her mother, who is now 93 years old, is ‘frail but strong in her determination to find the truth and see that justice is done’.

‘We have decided that we want to have the inquest re-opened so that it can be firmly proved that our father’s death was not the result of an accidental fall down a flight of stairs. After months of torture, he came home to us with extensive bruises and scars on his body.

‘Our parents were married by Muslim rites. Under apartheid, their marriage was not recognised. As a result, my mother became a widow without rights of inheritance and we became her illegitimate children. She lost her home, which she and my dad worked for, and moved into a room with her mother,’ said Haron-Masoet.