Durban - Days after an unemployed Durban couple made a suicide pact, an “obsessive, jealous” husband allegedly poisoned his wife with a lethal cocktail of anti-freeze and cranberry juice.
Megan Doorasamy, 29, then stayed with the body of his wife, Devashnee Naidoo, 30, for four days at their Berea flat before reporting the incident to the police.
Soon after calling the police, Doorasamy drove to the Durban pier where he contemplated ending his life.
Instead, he handed himself over to authorities at the beachfront tourist protection satellite unit.
He appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday for the murder of Naidoo.
Doorasamy, who recently quit his job as a truck driver, refused bail and opted to remain in custody.
In court it emerged that Naidoo, a former primary school teacher, had died on Monday, July 1, and her body, which was in an advanced stage of decomposition, was discovered on July 5 by police.
The building on the Berea where the couple lived. Picture: Doctor Ngcobo/African News Agency (ANA)
State prosecutor Calvin Govender told the court the accused had admitted he and Naidoo had made a suicide pact. He had allegedly mixed cranberry juice with anti-freeze and given it to Naidoo to drink.
He claimed that when he woke up the next morning, he found her dead, but stayed with her body for four days.
It also emerged in court that Doorasamy had tried to pawn Naidoo’s cellphone.
He told police they made a suicide pact because of financial difficulties. Both of them were unemployed.
He had allegedly made Naidoo quit her job because of his jealous streak, a source told the POST.
No suicide note was found at the scene.
Govender told the court when the police arrived at the flat, they allegedly saw
Naidoo’s face had been “beaten up” and the bathroom had been cleaned.
When police poured a “blue star” powder on the floor and shone a fluorescent light on it, they found blood splattered on the floor, the court heard.
Naidoo, a Hare Krishna devotee, met her husband, who was part of the Puntun’s Hill Bhajan group, four years ago.
In November 2017, the couple won a spot on SABC 3’s Married In A Flash, a reality television wedding show where couples who have been in a long term relationship or who are engaged are given R75000 to creatively plan and execute their wedding.
However, they only had three days to organise their special day.
On YouTube, Naidoo posted a video of the wedding where the couple is seen dancing to a live performance of the song Love Is In The Air as they entered their reception venue, dressed in traditional wedding attire.
Naidoo is seen blowing kisses and twirling happily as the audience claps to the music.
On Facebook, the couple posted multiple pictures of themselves together and publicly professed their love for each other.
Doorasamy also posted another picture of their wedding day asking his followers for advice on where he should take his wife for their fourth year anniversary... “Thinking of Amsterdam or Ibiza,” he wrote.
The source claimed Naidoo’s personality had changed after the wedding.
“She became fearful of greeting her friends. He was very possessive over her and did not like her to speak to many people.”
A childhood friend of Naidoo’s, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “She was jovial and like a sister to me. But, she completely changed once she met this guy. He was so jealous and obsessed with her. He even made her leave work because he did not want her to talk to male teachers.”
She said Doorasamy had also left his trucking job recently.
She said the family were beside themselves with grief and Naidoo’s mother was not coping well.
This was the second murder in their family. Naidoo’s father, Roy, was shot dead in a business robbery in Umbilo, Glenwood, in 2001.
Naidoo was the youngest of three siblings.
KZN SAPS spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said a case of murder was opened at the Berea police station.
Her funeral is to take place on Wednesday at the Clare Estate Crematorium.