Daughter killed because she was 'an obstacle to mother's lover'

Denisha Govindsamy, one of three murder victims was killed because she was an obstacle in her mother’s affair with Phoenix tow-truck driver Collin Pillay. 

This was argued by senior state prosecutor Cheryl Naidu in the Durban high court on Tuesday. She told the court that Denisha had been killed in such a brutal way because Pillay saw her as a problem in his relationship with Jane.   

“Denisha wasn’t a threat to you, she was an obstacle in your life.  Denisha was the reason you had to sneak around and you couldn’t come to the house any more. That is why you repeatedly stabbed her in the throat,” said Naidu. 

Pillay is charged with the murders of Govindsamy and her two daughters, Denisha, 22, and Rackelle, 16, at their home in Phoenix in 2018. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

On Monday Pillay told the court that Denisha - who moved back into her family's home about three months prior to her death - did not approve of his relationship with her mother. Pillay therefore had to sneak around the house to hide from her. 

Pillay, who at times appeared agitated by Naidu’s questions, said that he had no reason to kill Denisha or Rackelle because they were no threat to him. 

Naidu also put Pillay on the spot when she asked him why he did not send Govindsamy a morning message on September 21, as he did every other day. 

“The reason why you did not call or message Jane like you usually did was that you knew she died because you killed her," said Naidu.

Pillay initially told the court he did not call Jane on the morning of the 21st was because he did not have airtime.

When Naidu pulled out cellphone records showing that Pillay had made other outgoing calls, he then claimed he did not call because he was still sleeping.

It was a day of retractions for Pillay who changed his evidence and version of events in his alibi several times.  He had initially told the court that on the day the murders were committed he had gone to the Extreme car wash once on the 20th, but on Tuesday he  changed this and said he had gone there twice to meet friends.

This left Judge Philip Nkosi confused.

“I am grappling with understanding what your version is. You have not only changed the times but the sequences of things as well,” said Nkosi. 

Naidu continued to grill Pillay in the same manner as Monday, asking why it took him so long to suddenly remember certain details and change times. 

When asked why, he said that in the 30 minutes of the tea break he had had time to think about the days surrounding the murders. 

“During the tea break I had the time to think clearly about what happened and what I did during those days,” he said. 

Pillay will continue with his evidence on Wednesday.