|
'I wish they'd hang him'
24/07/2007 08:14 - (SA)
Nerissa Govender
Durban - Bombay Road residents looked on in horror as a man brandishing a panga chased his common-law wife, holding her one-year-old baby in her arms, down the street on Friday night.
Afterwards, Trevor Maharaj, 28, returned to their home, poured petrol over their furniture and set it alight, as neighbours watched aghast from their own homes.
Maharaj appeared in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate's Court yesterday morning on a charge of arson.
Maharaj's first wife and child died in 2005 in a fire in a scrap car in their yard.
Describing the weekend drama, eyewitnesses on Monday told The Witness they suspected that Maharaj assumed his 23-year-old wife and baby were inside when he started the fire.
Heated argument
The woman and baby are currently believed to be in a safe house.
SAPS spokesperson Inspector Joey Jeevan confirmed Maharaj was arrested on Saturday morning. He was remanded in custody and he is scheduled to reappear in court on July 30.
Witness reporters who visited the family's home on Monday morning saw a completely gutted building with the charred remains of baby clothes and household furniture.
An eyewitness told The Witness that Maharaj was seen running down Bombay Road with a bush knife at about 21:00 on Friday night, chasing after his wife who was trying to escape from him with her baby in her arms.
The couple had apparently been involved in a heated argument.
One neighbour said that after the argument, Maharaj returned home and set the building on fire.
Neighbours told The Witness Maharaj has apparently threatened to burn the woman and her baby alive on numerous previous occasions.
The woman's stepmother, Kathija Hoosen, said Maharaj should be put behind bars. "I wish they could hang him because I can't stand to see him roaming the streets." Hoosen said Maharaj assaults her step-daughter almost every day.
She said Maharaj recently stood at her front gate and threatened to kill her stepdaughter and her child, screaming: "I will kill her! I will put her in her grave!" Other neighbours said they had often seen Maharaj in Bombay Road "swearing, fighting and parading with a bushknife in his hand".
Another neighbour described Maharaj as "notorious", adding that they have often seen police vehicles outside the home.
According to sources, the wife has filed four interdicts against Maharaj, but he apparently tore them all up.
Two years ago, The Witness published a story about the death of Maharaj's first wife and 18-month-old baby, who were found charred beyond recognition in a burnt-out car in Heather Road.
The Witness reported that "suspicious circumstances" surrounded their deaths. In an update on the 2005 case, Jeevan said the toxicology report for this case is still awaited from the SAPS Forensics Laboratory in Pretoria.
Once this is received it will be forwarded to the senior public prosecutor for a final decision on whether to prosecute anyone.
News24 is now available on your cellphone.
|
