Kanellie Hatzikonstandinou, accused of murdering an 81-year-old shopper at the Cresta shopping centre in Johannesburg on Monday, appeared in the Randburg Regional Court on Wednesday.
Her tearful father, Iounno Hatzikonstandinou, entered the dock and before giving her a hug, said in a Greek accent: ”I want to apologise for what happened… I am saying sorry to the family.”
He had first interrupted the brief court proceedings to tell the magistrate, who asked whether she wanted a lawyer, that his daughter might be ”disturbed and would not understand what you [the magistrate] are saying”.
He then waved at her saying ”Hello, lovey. Lovey, they are asking you about a lawyer.”
She replied: ”It’s best, isn’t it?”
”Yes,” replied the father.
Hatzikonstandinou’s case was postponed to October 30 for her to be observed at Sterkfontein Hospital. She was meanwhile remanded to the hospital section of Johannesburg Women’s Prison.
When Hatzikonstandinou (35) from Boksburg, appeared in court, she was dressed in a silver coat and carried a plastic bag. She wore gold-rimmed spectacles and had her dark hair tied in a pony tail.
Her father handed prosecutor N Mulangaphuma a document which included a photocopy of his daughter’s national diploma in microbiology.
She obtained the diploma, which read that she had qualified with six distinctions, from the Technikon Witwatersrand in 1991. The diploma was conferred in 1992.
It also had a hand-written insert which read that she had obtained a master’s in technology degree in homeopathy in 2000.
The prosecutor would not allow reporters to look at other parts of the document, saying it had been given to him ”in confidence”.
It had not been seen by the magistrate, J Kgomo. Two observers in court came from a Gauteng mental health non-governmental organisation.
Karuna Singh, director of the Central Gauteng Mental Health Association, said she was concerned about the way mental illness was portrayed.
”Everyone with mental illness now gets labelled as violent and it’s not necessarily true.
”Schizophrenics are not all dangerous. When some people are actively ill they may become aggressive — but not all of them — it depends on the symptoms. We certainly won’t call them murderers.” – Sapa