Pediatric surgeon, Dr. Peter Beale (73) and Anaesthetist, Dr. Abdulhay Munshi (56), have been released on R10 000 bail each, after handing themselves over to police on Tuesday, 17 December.
The two are facing culpable homicide charges for the death of 10-year-old Zayyaan Sayed. The boy died shortly after a routine laparoscopic operation performed on him by the pair on 11 October, at Netcare’s Park Lane Clinic in Johannesburg. A warrant for the arrest of the doctors was issued on 9 December. They appeared before the magistrate’s court just hours after handing themselves over to the Hillbrow Police.
Photo Credit: Twitter @RianteP
As a term of their bail conditions, the doctors have been banned from leaving Gauteng and have been ordered to surrender their passports. However, according to Times Live, Mushni was granted permission to travel to Dubai and is required to hand his passport over to the investigating officer upon his return. The pair was also prohibited from making contact with any Netcare employees, witnesses or complainants of the case.
Reports suggest that Zayyaan’s lung collapsed shortly after the procedure was done. Despite being taken to the intensive care unit, little could be done to save his life. His father, Mohammadh Sayed, opened two cases of culpable homicide against the doctors who have since been suspended from Netcare, pending investigations. Zayyaan’s case has prompted more families to come forward with stories of their own. They claim that their children have died or have permanent impediments after undergoing procedures done by Doctors Beale and Munshi.
Sunday Times reports that, prior to his suspension, Beale had a few other allegations made against him and was under a Netcare peer review. In 2016, he was suspended by Mediclinic and had been fined R80 000 by the Health Professionals Council of South Africa (HPCSA) in 2018, for various allegations including gross negligence.
The case has been postponed to 31 March of next year.
