A Durban man who beat his family to death with a religious mace has been sentenced to life behind bars.
Rajan Kandasamy‚ 48‚ was stoic and expressionless as Judge Shyam Gyanda handed down his sentence‚ drawing focus to his marked lack of remorse for the “gruesome” murders in 2014.
His wife Varsha‚ 41‚ an admin clerk at an engineering firm‚ and children Melarisa‚ 18‚ and Megandren‚ 17‚ were found bludgeoned to death in the main bedroom of their Chatsworth home.
Kandasamy beat his family to death with a Gada‚ a traditional Indian mace carried by the Hindu god Hanuman.
Three life sentences‚ one for each family member‚ will run concurrently.
Kandasamy had been “missing” when the bodies were discovered‚ and later surfaced at his mother’s house.
He made a confession to police‚ the admissibility of which was then disputed when the matter came to trial‚ with Kandasamy insisting he had no recollection of the night and that police had coached him.
“You know what you did‚” Gyanda had emphasised after punching holes on Kandasamy’s assertion that he had no memory of the night of the murders.
The Judge dismantled the evidence ventilated during the trial‚ and said it was probable that the couple had had an argument over a looming divorce which led to the attack.
“The manner of these killings was brutal. This was a very personal assault and each blow was deliberately struck with the intention to kill‚” he said.
“He [Kandasamy] had to kill them [his children] because they were witness to the murder of their mother‚” Gyanda added. “Not one iota of evidence has been introduced to prove that you show any remorse for your actions. Until you accept that you are responsible for the deaths of your family‚ your road to recovery will be long… the magnitude of these murders is immense.”
Gyanda said that Kandasamy had robbed his children of the right to grow and blossom into adulthood‚ and that he had made a concerted effort to lie to the court.
“Their lives were snuffed out in mere moments. You have been stoic. You have shown no emotion.
“You attempted to mislead this court that the possibility existed that there was someone else responsible [for the murders]‚” he said.
As Kandasamy looked on coldly‚ Gyanda said: “You were supposed to protect and nurture them.”
Life behind bars for man who beat his family to death with religious mace
A Durban man who beat his family to death with a religious mace has been sentenced to life behind bars.
Rajan Kandasamy‚ 48‚ was stoic and expressionless as Judge Shyam Gyanda handed down his sentence‚ drawing focus to his marked lack of remorse for the “gruesome” murders in 2014.
His wife Varsha‚ 41‚ an admin clerk at an engineering firm‚ and children Melarisa‚ 18‚ and Megandren‚ 17‚ were found bludgeoned to death in the main bedroom of their Chatsworth home.
Kandasamy beat his family to death with a Gada‚ a traditional Indian mace carried by the Hindu god Hanuman.
Three life sentences‚ one for each family member‚ will run concurrently.
Kandasamy had been “missing” when the bodies were discovered‚ and later surfaced at his mother’s house.
He made a confession to police‚ the admissibility of which was then disputed when the matter came to trial‚ with Kandasamy insisting he had no recollection of the night and that police had coached him.
“You know what you did‚” Gyanda had emphasised after punching holes on Kandasamy’s assertion that he had no memory of the night of the murders.
The Judge dismantled the evidence ventilated during the trial‚ and said it was probable that the couple had had an argument over a looming divorce which led to the attack.
“The manner of these killings was brutal. This was a very personal assault and each blow was deliberately struck with the intention to kill‚” he said.
“He [Kandasamy] had to kill them [his children] because they were witness to the murder of their mother‚” Gyanda added. “Not one iota of evidence has been introduced to prove that you show any remorse for your actions. Until you accept that you are responsible for the deaths of your family‚ your road to recovery will be long… the magnitude of these murders is immense.”
Gyanda said that Kandasamy had robbed his children of the right to grow and blossom into adulthood‚ and that he had made a concerted effort to lie to the court.
“Their lives were snuffed out in mere moments. You have been stoic. You have shown no emotion.
“You attempted to mislead this court that the possibility existed that there was someone else responsible [for the murders]‚” he said.
As Kandasamy looked on coldly‚ Gyanda said: “You were supposed to protect and nurture them.”
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