Durban - It has taken seven long years, but the family of 29-year-old Jennifer Pillay finally got justice on Wednesday when the man she loved and trusted – her boyfriend at the time – was sentenced to life in prison for her murder.
“He got what he deserved … we are very happy with the sentence,” Pillay’s sister, Vanitha, told The Mercury on Wednesday as father of three Loganathan Naicker, 39, left the courtroom to begin serving his sentence.
He showed no emotion – a fact raised by Durban High Court Judge King Ndlovu as being an aggravating factor in the case.
“I am satisfied that you showed absolutely no remorse … you tried all the tricks to avert justice, but in the end justice has prevailed and everyone will find some closure today,” he said, handing down sentence on Wednesday.
Earlier this week Judge Ndlovu convicted Naicker of Pillay’s murder, finding that he had hired two men, Sandile Ncube and Mbongeni Mbatha, to accost her at her home near Verulam, take her to sugar cane fields nearby and shoot her.
Mbatha, who was the shooter, has subsequently died.
Ncube turned State witness and testified that Naicker had wanted Pillay dead “because he had a new girlfriend and she was in the way”.
They were promised large amounts of cash which, Naicker said, he would get from a life insurance policy.
But the judge said from the evidence before him there was no such policy.
“You told him this to convince him to commit the crime. You knew you were lying.
“On the evidence it seems you no longer loved her and you had found new romantic happiness. It begs the question: Why did you have her killed? Why did you just not end it? She was employed, she lived in her own place, she had family who loved her and who are sorely missing her today. She trusted you. She thought of you as her protector.”
The judge said Pillay’s parents trusted Naicker and treated him as one of their sons.
“When her mother heard of your arrest, she collapsed and had a stroke. She can hardly walk or speak to this day. When her father testified, he was crying. He could not contain himself.”
The judge said he could find only aggravating factors, including that Naicker was clearly the mastermind behind the crime. And he could have got away with it had Pillay’s family not complained to the police management about the lack of proper investigation in the case, resulting in the formation of an organised crime unit task team under Lieutenant Mukesh Panday’s command.
The judge said that up until then, the investigation “appeared to have died” and questioned how a detective from the Tongaat police station – who appeared to have childhood links to Naicker – had been initially given the docket.
The Mercury