Durban - Days before Roxanne Thanthoni was killed with a kitchen knife at her home in Tongaat, she was threatened that she would be leaving in a body bag.
This was according to high court indictments served in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court before magistrate Rajesh Parshotam on Thursday.
Denver Mcwayne Marimuthu, 28, who is currently in custody, is accused of stabbing his bride before they could attend a Sunday church service on March 1, 2020. He then fled in her Hyundai i10. Marimuthu was later arrested near his parent’s home in KwaDukuza and charged with murder and theft.
He also faces four counts of assault after he allegedly physically accosted Thanthoni’s ex-boyfriend, her parents, and the couple’s landlord in separate incidents. The matter was indicted to the Durban High Court where he will stand trial.
In the indictment, the State said the couple had a troublesome relationship and that Marimuthu had threatened to kill Thanthoni, 31, days before her body was found. In the summary of substantial facts, the State listed the allegations of assault that started with Thanthoni's ex-boyfriend.
The State said the ex-boyfriend worked with the couple in uMhlanga and that Thanthoni had maintained their friendship. Marimuthu allegedly did not approve of this and warned the former boyfriend to stay away from Thanthoni. It is alleged that Marimuthu grabbed the man’s hand and headbutted him.
The indictment said the couple married soon afterwards but they had a quarrelsome relationship.
In January last year, while living with Thanthoni’s parents at a flat in Tongaat, the couple began arguing and Marimuthu allegedly assaulted his in-laws who tried to intervene. It is alleged that he punched his father-in-law and pushed his mother-in-law to the ground.
The couple subsequently moved out of her parent’s home and rented a home in Watsonia.
“The relationship remained fractious and a few days prior to the incident (killing), the accused had threatened that the deceased would leave the premises in a body bag,” said the indictment.
According to the court papers, on the morning of March 1, last year, Marimuthu decided to kill Thanthoni.
“He attacked the deceased with a knife and stabbed her repeatedly. He then stole the deceased’s car and fled the scene. He later abandoned the car in KwaDukuza. A subsequent post-mortem examination of the deceased’s body established the cause of death as an incisional wound of the chest.”
The couple were married for less than three months when her landlord found her body.
Marimuthu has been in custody for just over a year, following two failed bail applications.
He recently returned from Fort Napier in Pietermaritzburg where he spent eight weeks, undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.
During a bail attempt last November, he made submissions that he had developed boils all over his body and was afraid he had contracted TB or HIV in prison. Through his attorney, Ravin Singh, he said his continued detention had resulted in the progressive degeneration of his physical and mental well-being. He claimed that he was unable to seek proper medical care and that he needed bail for a private doctor to assess him.
Marimuthu also said he was afraid for his life and alluded to the amount of violence and overcrowding in prison.
This week, Thanthoni’s father, Narainsamy “Babs” Thanthoni, said: “Now that the investigations have wrapped up, we are looking forward to the trial in the Durban High Court.”
He said nothing would bring back his “angel”.
“She was everything to us and we still deal with the loss and heartache every day. We hope justice will prevail and he gets what he deserves. It’s all left in God’s hands now.”
Thanthoni, a RewardsCo manager, met Marimuthoo at church. He introduced himself to her after she had shared her testimony, which he was inspired by.
Marimuthu will appear in the Durban High Court next month.
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