“I taught her how to survive in prison but I regret it because I didn’t know she had the devil inside of her.”
These were the words uttered by murdered little Caleb Booysen’s former 28s prisoner father outside the Cape High Court on Wednesday.
Moments later, the ex-prison gang leader, Rashied “Vissie” Abrahams came face to face with his ex-lover, Chantel Booysen, for the the first time in more than a year and a half.
The 25-year-old is currently on trial alongside her ex-boyfriend, Quintin “Ore” Aysen, 32, for the brutal murder of Caleb.
Prosecutors are set to prove the duo flung Caleb against a table, causing the two-year-old massive blunt trauma on May 21, 2010, inside her home in Pam Court, Manenberg.
In another shocking twist, a former prisoner who once slept next to Booysen, has since come forward and made shocking revelations about her old cellmate.
The woman, who cannot be identified, claims Booysen is an evil lesbian who beats up her female lovers and is a member of the notorious prison gang known as “the Broekies”.
Booysen has spent more than a year behind bars at Pollsmoor’s Maximum Prison, at times sharing a cell with 94 other women.
And she has prison life etched on her face with tattoos on her hands.
But despite a judge revealing the State has overwhelming evidence to prove Booysen’s guilt, Rashied believes she may be innocent.
Rashied, who was once known as Vincent, was released from Pollsmoor prison a year ago after he did time for drug-related charges.
Although the mother of his kid has admitted to abusing Caleb, he believes Aysen is also to blame.
Wearing a white fez, in contrast to the tattoos on his hands, devout Muslim Rashied became emotional when he came face to face with Booysen.
“I wanted to face her because there was no time to speak to her,” he says, due to the fact that he was behind bars at the time of her arrest.
“When I saw her, I felt in my heart it can’t be her that killed Caleb.
“She never lifted her hand to Caleb in my presence.
“But I heard she blamed me, that she was frustrated because I was in prison.
“But how can she when that was her child?
“Quinton also has a hand in this because he didn’t do enough to protect Caleb.”
During an in-depth interview last year, Rashied revealed he was a high-ranking and feared prison gang leader after joining the 28s in 1983.
But now he regrets teaching Booysen how to survive behind bars, even documenting his knowledge on paper.
“Chantel never knew what love was, I gave her love,” he explains.
“I gave her the wisdom of how to survive inside but I regret it because I didn’t know she had the devil inside of her.
“She is now using what I taught her to defend herself.
“I told her, you can only come back home if you bring Caleb with you.”
But Rashied’s sister, 36, who does not want to be named, believes he is in complete denial.
“She likes to manipulate him, telling him she is innocent, but we wanted him at court to hear it out of the judge’s mouth,” she says.
Now, Booysen’s own former prison mate has also described her as evil, domineering and very abusive – a mother who never really spoken about her son.
She says she first met Booysen last year soon after her arrest.
She quickly learnt Booysen was a member of the notorious Broekies gang and a lesbian who often left her lovers with black eyes.
“I left Pollsmoor a month ago,” she explains.
And the woman says she believes without a doubt that Booysen is capable of murder.
“It is almost like she has a split personality, she doesn’t even have a photograph of Caleb by her bedside,” she adds.
If found guilty and imprisoned for life, the woman says the death penalty will be the only suitable punishment for Chantel, because prison life for her is like living in luxury.
“Inside she gets three meals a day and is a dik ding, like a celebrity; life will mean nothing for her,” the ex-convict adds.
