Durban – Convicted killer Shalin Ganas claimed the Umkomaas couple he brutally murdered in August had stolen jewellery worth R92 000 from him.
Ganas, 37, was convicted and sentenced for killing Sathie Pillay, 78, and his wife Southree Pillay, 74, in the Pietermaritzburg Court on Wednesday.
He received 15 years for each count of murder and 5 years for theft of a motor vehicle. All sentences will run concurrently and the effective sentence will be 25 years.
The couple were found dead in their Willowglen home on August 1.
In his plea statement, Ganas claimed he began renting a room at the couples’ home in December 2018. Soon thereafter he was arrested by police on a separate charge.
He said that he had told Sathie was to keep his belongings until his release.
Ganas was released in May and when he returned to the home Sathie had informed him that some of his belongings had been stolen during a robbery at the house.
Among the items taken, claimed Ganas was jacket containing jewellery to the value of R92 000.
Ganas left the home and returned on August 1 after he was unable to find information on the robbery.
Ganas claimed the couple had been lying to him about the robbery and decided to confront them.
An argument ensued and he bashed Southree’s head against a wall. He then took a knife and stabbed her on the side of her body.
He picked up a knobkerrie and struck Sathie at the back of the head before stabbing him twice on the side of his body.
Ganas then fled the scene with Sathie’s Toyota Tazz and was arrested shortly thereafter.
The family expressed dissatisfaction with the sentence saying that Ganas should have received a double life sentence.
Source: POST
