Durban - The release on bail on Monday of a man accused of allegedly murdering his lover has alarmed her relatives, who said they feared for their lives.
On Monday, Sunil Ramkarran, 45, was released on R2 000 bail by the Verulam Magistrate’ s Court, as relatives of his alleged victim, Priscilla Pillay, 55, held a placard demonstration outside opposing bail.
Ramkarran is accused of shooting his girlfriend, Pillay, in Desainagar, oThongathi (Tongaat), on Thursday.
He allegedly then drove to Victoria Hospital where he dropped her off.
Pillay was admitted with a gunshot wound to the abdomen and was later transferred to Wentworth Hospital where she underwent an operation.
She died of organ failure on Sunday morning.
Tongaat police spokeswoman, Lieutenant Mandy Govender, said she had spoken to Pillay shortly after the shooting and was told of the circumstances of the shooting.
Prem Balram of Reaction Unit SA, a local security company, arrested Ramkarran on Friday evening after a chase and shootout in the oThongathi CBD.
Pillay’ s relatives said they were unhappy the accused had been granted bail.
“It is not fair to live like this. He is a threat to us,” said family spokeswoman, Anne Sitharay.
She said she had received a call from a friend that Pillay was involved in an accident outside the hospital.
She said when she got there Pillay was holding the side of her stomach.
“I thought she was beaten up. I was not aware that she was wounded and bleeding until she told me. I was hysterical.”
Priscilla, a secretary for a caravan manufacturer in Pinetown, will be buried in Tongaat on Wednesday. Ramkarran is due back in court on May 12.
Daily News