Crowd fury at family killings

Security for the man accused of bludgeoning his family to death was beefed up when he made his second court appearance this week.

On Friday, Rajan Kandasamy, 44, stood hunched in the dock of a packed Chatsworth Magistrate‘s Court, with an extra police officer between him and the public gallery.

The extra security muscle was to guard against angry community members who were earlier calling for his blood.

Kandasamy is accused of murdering his  wife, Varsha, 41, daughter Melarisa, 18, and son Megandren, 17, two weeks ago in their Chatsworth home.

He allegedly battered them to death with a gada — a ceremonial mace carried by the Hindu deity Hanuman.

Last week, Kandasamy‘s case was adjourned to give him time to file for legal aid.

This week, his family appointed attorney Sivan Samuel.

Samuel asked magistrate Leon Nielsen to adjourn the case until next week for Kandasamy‘s mental state to be assessed.

Nielsen ordered that Kandasamy be taken to Westville Prison, but denied Samuel‘s request to have him placed in the prison hospital until his mental state could be reviewed by the district surgeon and a private psychologist.

The public reacted with hushed cheers and fist pumps.

Samuel told the court that Kandasamy should be put in a hospital environment as he “may be a danger to himself due to the nature of what happened”.

He said Kandasamy had no recollection of “a great deal of what transpired”.

But Nielsen said he did not have enough evidence to rule on where in Westville Prison Kandasamy should be held.

After the hearing, Kandasamy and Samuel were heckled by members of the public.

People cried out “murderer” as Kandasamy was  led back to the holding cells. He kept his head bowed and did not react.

Outside, about 100 residents, brought in by bus by the ANC and the Minority Front, chanted “rot in jail”.

 They held up placards which read: “They were innocent, you bastard”; “Bring back the death penalty for murderers and cowards”; and “Jail the killer”.

One protester said she had come to show support for the “children who were killed”.

“I am a mother too. All of us here are asking why he had to kill them. There must be no mercy for him. He didn‘t show any mercy.”

On Tuesday, Melarisa‘s matric results were released at the Durban ICC event honouring the city‘s 2013‘s matriculants. She had passed her exams with two As , four Bs and two Cs.

Her brother, Megandren, would have entered matric at the start of this school year.