LONDON: A British-Muslim mother of four has been shot dead by an apparent stray bullet while visiting family and friends in Johannesburg.
Fatima Issa, a 47-year-old school teacher from Leicester, was with her daughter Humairah, 19, in a house on the Meyersdal View Estate in the city when she was shot.
Confusion surrounds the circumstances of her death. Issa’s husband Fayaz, who remained in Britain with their three other children, was informed that the gunshot was fired by someone playing with a loaded gun when it was discharged.
But Yusuf Abramjee, an anti-crime advocate, said a relative was cleaning the gun it when it fired.
Abramjee later said the pistol “went off accidentally when a family member was showing it to a third person,” although the case remains under investigation by the police.
Paramedics rushed to the scene of the shooting, but Issa died soon after. South African police have yet to comment on the cause of death.
Issa’s brother Ebrahim Lambat took to Facebook to mourn her loss: “Request duas (prayers) for my sister Fatima Issa. She has returned to the mercy of Allah.”