Durban - The family of a woman whose husband confessed to her murder and was sentenced to life for it are outraged he has successfully applied to have his conviction and sentence reviewed.
Rajiv Sewnarain, a former Clairwood businessman, will appear in court this week for a bail application.
His wife, Shanaaz, was shot dead during an apparent hijacking in 2010 during which Sewnarain was shot in the shoulder.
Shanaaz’s older sister, Sandra Baliram, said the family was distraught about Sewnarain’s bail application after he had confessed to having a hand in the murder of her sister.
Baliram said her 79-year-old mother was distressed after reading in the newspaper about Sewnarain’s application, which is set to be heard at the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
“If it wasn’t for reading the Post we would not have known about this application by this man.
“We will be in attendance at the session as we have done in the past when the man was sentenced for the murder of my sister,” Baliram said.
Shanaaz was shot dead while she and her husband were returning home to Jacobs. She was shot in the neck and chest while Sewnarain was shot in the shoulder.
It was later discovered that the hijacking had been staged by Sewnarain to get his wife killed.
Post, a Daily News sister paper, reported last week that Sewnarain was in court on Tuesday requesting bail after a successful application last year to the Pietermaritzburg High Court to have his conviction and sentence reviewed.
“His appeal is being dealt with and now he wants bail. This is confusing. We cannot believe that he is applying for bail after he had pleaded guilty to the crime. We live in fear of all these applications. We hope that bail will be denied,” Baliram said.