Tycoon was planning second marriage before mysterious death in Mombasa

MOMBASA, KENYA: A British tycoon Harry Roy Veevers who died in Mombasa, Kenya on Valentine’s Day four years ago was planning to marry another woman before he suddenly died in his bed, according to John Whitehead, a witness at the judicial inquest into his unexplained death.

And the doctor who certified his death has claimed Harry's widow Azra Parveen Din rejected his advice to perform an autopsy on his corpse to confirm cause of death and did not budge even when advised to do so by the British consulate in Mombasa.

Dr Salim Omar told the inquest that despite Azra's reluctance he advised morticians at Pandya Memorial Hospital mortuary where the corpse was stored to proceed with the autopsy in conformity with British and Kenyan law but they refused alleging Harry's widow had indicated to them that she could not afford the procedure.

"I had no objection on a postmortem being taken because I was aware that since Harry was a British citizen a postmortem was a requirement before any burial takes place," said Dr Omar who added that "I did not know that some issues would arise following his death."

On Wednesday Whitehead who was Harry's close friend of 20 years told the inquest court that before his sudden death on February 14 2013 he told his second wife Azra Praveen Din "on her face" that he wanted to marry another woman to bear him children.
According to Whitehead Harry had ceased to sleep in the same bed with his wife Azra Parveen Din before he died. And Whitehead also alleges Azra did not display emotion following Harry's death and appeared to be in a hurry to bury him.
Harry's sudden death is a matter of a protracted judicial inquest involving his two feuding families. The children of his first wife Florence Marvis whom he divorced in England before eloping with a British muslim woman Arza Parveen Din to Mombasa in the early 1980s believe he was killed and hurriedly buried in a muslim cemetery without an autopsy to conceal cause of death.
Florence's children who stayed in touch with their philandering father obtained a court order two years ago to exhume the corpse for an autopsy that showed that the soils around the corpse had traces of a killer pesticide. They claim Azra and her children with Harry killed him after learning he wanted to marry another woman and inherit his vast wealth, a claim they deny and hypothesize that he died from a heart attack or suicide.
Azra and her children have also presented a medical report of their father analyzing his health for seven years before death which says he had suicidal thoughts after suffering several problems including an erectile dysfunction. Initially police had recommended murder charges against Azra and her daughters Hellen and Alexandria but was not to be and the state instituted an inquest instead.
Dr Omar, who first propounded the heart attack theory has been admonished and fined by the Kenya Medical and Dentists Practitioners Board for certifying Harry died from this condition despite available symptoms suggesting otherwise.

But on Wednesday he lamented that he has wrongly been blamed for allowing Harry's burial without the autopsy and added that contrary to family claims he found Harry dead in his bed when Azra called him to her residence.

He said he had Harry doctor for two years prior to his death and was aware that he suffered depression and high blood pressure adding that at around 4.00am on February 14 2013 Azra called him to alert him that Harry was gravely ill and in deep pain.

"When I arrived in the house Azra led me to the room where Harry was and I found him naked. When I examined him I discovered that he had already died and advised Azra to take the body to Pandya and ensure there was a postmortem before burial," said Dr Omar who admitted signing the death certificate without the postmortem after the consulate informed him that nothing could be done if Azra was opposed to it.
But now despite allegations that Harry suffered erectile problems, Whitehead testified that the Briton who died aged 65 had a voracious sex drive and loved women.
Whitehead who was being led by state lawyer Eugene Wangila told Mombasa Senior Principal Magistrate Charles Ndegwa that Roy had an appetite for ladies and termed it as normal in life.
"My friend Roy had stated to me that he had a great sexual appetite hence he desired to have more children as the woman he was living with could no longer sire for him the children he wanted, “said Whitehead.
Whitehead, the fifth state witness in the inquest told the court that before the sudden death of his friend he told his wife Azra on the face while they were drinking a pool bar near Kenol petrol station that he wanted to marry another woman.
He said Roy who divorced his first wife Florence Marvis 39 years ago told him that even Azra did not mind his sexual appetite.
"My friend Roy was a man who loved women and whenever we were with him in a bar he used to seduce many women," said Whitehead.
Whitehead recalled how one day when they were at their favorite pool bar in Mombasa Harry sought his advice over whether to divorce his wife Azra.
"As we were enjoying at a pool bar near Kenol, Roy sought my advice over whether to divorce the woman. As somebody who has divorced three times I advised Roy to divorce his wife if she could not bear him the children he wanted,” said Whitehead
He said during this discussion is when he wanted to marry another woman because Azra was a pain in his neck.
"Before Roy died he told me that Azra was a pain in his neck and completely destroyed his life before they came to Kenya over 30 years ago," said Whitehead.
As Whitehead testified Hellen and Alexandria who were following the proceedings from the public gallery stormed out grumbling that the witness was lying.

The grumbling caught the magistrate's attention causing a temporary stoppage of proceedings.
Whitehead told the court before Harry died he was not sharing the same room with Azra in their bungalow at Nyali where he died.

"I do not think they were sharing the same bedroom before his death and that was why he had expressed interest in marrying another wife, “said Whitehead.
Before Roy's sudden death, he announced in public in the presence of Azra that he was going to get married to a lady he was always with.
"Roy announced in front of four British experts he was having a drink with that he was going to get married in the presence of Azra. He put his arm around Azra and told her as a Muslim she should know that Roy is allowed to marry four wives," said Whitehead.
The witness said following the incident Azra appeared to have been humiliated and never liked the suggestion.
"After sometime Azra rang to me on February 14 2014 at night that Roy had died. I got shocked but there was nothing I could do," said Whitehead.
He told the court that he was later invited to attend the funeral rites at Pandya hospital where he met Richard Veevers and Philip Veevers who are Harry's son with Florence.
Whitehead also recalled how he witnessed the cleaning and wrapping of Harry's body at Pandya Hospital morgue in Mombasa where they discovered that Azra wanted to bury his body in accordance to Islamic faith.
"I asked Azra why his friend's body was being buried without a postmortem and yet the law does not allow that in Kenya," said Whitehead .
The witness told the court that Azra appeared not to be touched about the death and added that he asked Harry's sons to postpone burial until a postmortem was done.
"Azra told us that Roy had changed his religion from Christianity to Islamic and had to be buried as a Muslim," Whitehead said.