A Chatsworth man, who is alleged to have brutally murdered his girlfriend, was denied bail in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
Sugandran (Rodney) Naicker is charged with the murder of Vyaksha Sookdew, an instrument technician at a mining company.
Her bloodied body was discovered on Christmas Day in her Havenside home in Chatsworth.
It is alleged that she had been beaten to death with a hammer and her body was discovered inside a bin bag in the bathroom of her rented home.
Mr Naicker was arrested after he allegedly fled the area after filling his car with petrol. He had gone to a local petrol station with his VW Golf and left without paying. A short while later, he returned to the petrol station in Ms Sookdew’s car, when he was recognised and arrested for theft. After his arrest, he confessed to murdering Ms Sookdew and pointed police to her body.
During the bail application it emerged that Mr Naicker was married with two children, unemployed and battled substance abuse.
On Friday, protesters, including family members, gathered outside the court with placards demonstrating against gender-based violence and femicide.
Family spokesperson Tashleen Kasipershad, who was a part of the protest, said Ms Sookdew’s murder came as a shock to the family and that it had taken place on one of Ms Sookdew’s favourite holidays.
“We can’t believe that such a kind person was taken from us. We are a close-knit family,” she said.
“It has always been our tradition to gather together on Christmas Day and prepare lunch together and spend time with Vyaksha. None of us were prepared to receive the devastating news that she had been murdered.
“On Christmas morning when we woke up to prepare for the day, we got the news. It has been a holiday of horrors for our family. Anyone who knew Vyaksha knew how feisty she was, intelligent, beautiful and she had a kind and generous heart. This makes it all the more harder and a bitter pill to swallow that she died in such a horrible way,” said Ms Kasipershad.
She said they wanted justice and maximum punishment for the perpetrator.
“Nobody deserves to die in this way and no one has the right to take a person’s life in this way,” said Ms Kasipershad.
Acting magistrate Naresh Bika the case had attracted widespread attention from the community as well as the media, evidenced by the number of people in the courtroom as well as the protest outside, and that “any other decision by the court would create a sense of shock and outrage, therefore bail is denied.”
Mr Naicker was remanded in custody and will be back in court on Friday February 16.
