An alleged murderer who escaped from a psychiatric hospital seven years ago has been found working as a caretaker at a primary school
The Witness reported that Madhan Maharaj, 49, was arrested and taken to the Mountain Rise police station in 2005 after allegedly killing his wife Caroline by assaulting her with a steel pipe and slitting her throat.
He asked to rather be sent to New Prison, claiming he suffered from haemorrhoids and that he believed the prison would offer better medical care. Instead, he was sent to Fort Napier Hospital for psychiatric observation.
He escaped a week later.
Detective-Captain Pipes Haffajee told the newspaper the police had not given up hope of finding Maharaj during his seven years on the run.
Local police and the KwaZulu-Natal crime intelligence unit tracked him to a primary school in Phoenix, Durban, where he was living and working as a caretaker.
Haffajee said Maharaj seemed surprised when the police found him, and that his appearance had changed with the passage of time.
“He’s much older now. He has lost a few teeth and he’s gone bald,” he said.
Maharaj would appear in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on charges relating to the murder and his escape.
Escaped 'mental' murder suspect found working at school
An alleged murderer who escaped from a psychiatric hospital seven years ago has been found working as a caretaker at a primary school
The Witness reported that Madhan Maharaj, 49, was arrested and taken to the Mountain Rise police station in 2005 after allegedly killing his wife Caroline by assaulting her with a steel pipe and slitting her throat.
He asked to rather be sent to New Prison, claiming he suffered from haemorrhoids and that he believed the prison would offer better medical care. Instead, he was sent to Fort Napier Hospital for psychiatric observation.
He escaped a week later.
Detective-Captain Pipes Haffajee told the newspaper the police had not given up hope of finding Maharaj during his seven years on the run.
Local police and the KwaZulu-Natal crime intelligence unit tracked him to a primary school in Phoenix, Durban, where he was living and working as a caretaker.
Haffajee said Maharaj seemed surprised when the police found him, and that his appearance had changed with the passage of time.
“He’s much older now. He has lost a few teeth and he’s gone bald,” he said.
Maharaj would appear in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on charges relating to the murder and his escape.
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