Durban – The family of the Chatsworth woman Desiree Murugan who was beheaded and her head sold to a traditional healer in 2015 are yet to tell her 8-year-old son the details of his mother’s death.
Instead, the family told the young boy when Murugan died two years ago that she was ill and had died.
Murugan’s sister, Jennet, speaking outside the Durban High Court at the start of the judgment on Wednesday, told the Daily News of the pain her family had been subjected to since her sister’s death.
Sibonakaliso Mbili, a traditional healer, his assistant, Vusumuzi Gumede, and three minors including a 16-year-old girl, had pleaded not guilty to the murder.
Murugan was lured to a sports ground in Shallcross where she was stabbed 192 times and beheaded.
Her body was found by municipal workers and her head was found a few days later in the Imfume area on the South Coast.
The distraught sister said hearing the verdict this week would not bring closure as the family was still waiting for the right moment to tell Murugan’s son exactly how his mother died.
“He was too young when his mother was killed to understand or even try to comprehend such brutality in the world. We wanted to protect him. He is now 8 years old and we still do not think that he is ready to hear this. Actually there is no appropriate age for someone to hear this,” she said.
She said he would eventually find out when he grew up.
“I can imagine his pain when he eventually reads the newspaper articles about how his mother was killed. I want to shield him from all this pain. I know exactly how it feels like and for him it will be 10 times more,” said Jennet.
She said even their mother could not come to court as she did not want to hear all over again how it was planned and executed.
“Hearing it during the trial was traumatic. It would have been even more disturbing for her to hear it when the judge reads out her judgment and we advised her not to attend the first two days.
“This case has affected her psychologically.”
She said her mother would be in court when the judge hands down the verdict.
The family hoped for a guilty verdict and if found guilty, they felt a life sentence would not be enough.
Seeing the accused each day in court during the trial, had also been extremely painful.