The brother of murder accused Rameez Patel could not testify against him as planned on Monday because he was shot over the weekend.

Razeen Patel, 24, was in a critical but stable condition after he was shot after a party on Sunday, Netwerk24 reported.

When Rameez heard the news during his trial in the Limpopo High Court in Polokwane on Monday, he reportedly threw his hands up in the air and shook his head in disbelief.

“How will this make me look? It will look like I am infamous. Thank God I am in custody, otherwise the police would have suspected me,” he told Netwerk24.

Last Monday, when Razeen failed to arrive at the same court to testify, the investigating officer went to his Nirvana home in Polokwane, where he found the man’s bakkie as well as the key to his house and his cellphone.

A blood stain had also been spotted on the ground and the police officer looked into his witness’ whereabouts.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Limpopo spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi informed News24 on Friday that Razeen was “found well in his home” and would testify after the weekend.

Rameez Patel has been charged with the murder of his wife Fatima, who was found dead in a pool of blood at the accused’s rental apartment in Nirvana, in April 2015.

He is also accused of murdering his mother Mahjebeen, who was shot and killed in September 2017 while he was out on bail.

In late August 2016, Rameez’s father Feroz was killed in what was initially believed to be an armed robbery. Police, however, found that nothing had been stolen.

Rameez is expected back in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court for his mother’s murder on July 30. The case involving his wife’s murder is expected to resume on September 17 in the Limpopo High Court.