Durban -A special assembly was held to mourn the loss of Sadia Sukhraj,9, at the Everest Primary School in Shallcross on Tuesday.
Sadia was shot in a hijacking incident on Monday. Her father Shailendra Sukhraj had dropped off his 7-month-old son with his parents and was about to take Sadia to school.
Captain Nqobile Gwala, a KZN police spokesperson, said Sukhraj was dropping off his daughter at school on Himalaya Road in Shallcross when three suspects held him up at gunpoint and took his Hyundai vehicle.
"The child was still seated in the car. The driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed it into a park. An off-duty police officer gave chase and apprehended one suspect. The second suspect died at the scene," Gwala said.
Sadia was rushed to a hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. Charges of murder and carjacking were opened at Chatsworth for investigation.
The Daily News reporters who visited the school this morning noted that there was a sombre mood around the school as parents dropped off their children and other pupils walked into the school.
Pastor Ashby Kurain, from the Child Evangelism Fellowship, offered emotional support to the pupils and teachers. He shared some light-hearted jokes to cheer the pupils up during a special assembly.
"It is a very sad day. We are still trying to understand what happened. We must be extra careful in everything we do," Kurain said.
Gwala said tyres were burnt outside the entrance to the police station and protestors hurled objects at the station premises on Monday night. A large crowd of people gathered to voice their displeasure at the lack of policing in the Shallcross area. Gwala said the Public Order Policing unit had to use stun grenades to disperse the unruly crowd.
It was all calm at the Chatsworth police station on Tuesday morning.