Durban - The man accused of dousing his lover with petrol before setting her alight has conceded that it did not make sense that she would scream out for help if she intended to burn herself to death.
Nilesh Singh, 37, was being cross-examined by prosecutor Cheryl Naidu in the Durban High Court on Monday.
The State alleges that on the night of November 16, 2016, Singh and Trisha Naidoo, who lived together in Glenhills, KwaDukuza, had argued before he allegedly doused her with petrol that he kept for his grass-cutting business.
He allegedly set her alight and locked her in the toilet. Naidoo, 26, managed to escape, extinguishing the flames in the adjoining shower.
She suffered deep burn wounds to her hands, limbs and groin and died two weeks later.
Singh has pleaded not guilty to her murder.
On Monday, he stood by his testimony that Naidoo doused herself with petrol and had burnt herself.
However, the court heard last week that it was impossible for Naidoo to have poured petrol on herself as her injuries revealed that she was in a “defensive crouch” position when the incident occurred.
Theuns Bekker, the chief forensic analyst at the SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory, testified that if Naidoo had been in an “upright position” during the “flash fire” and the pouring of the petrol, she would have sustained further injury.
“It is indicative to me that she was in a defensive position. She was nearing a crouch.”
Singh, a married man, said he moved in with Naidoo in 2014, shortly after an affair with her that resulted in a child.
He described their relationship as “good”.
But when questioned by Naidu, he admitted that there was “always a conversation about me going to see my ex”.
He said that on the night in question he was constantly accused of going to see his ex-wife, so Singh said he was leaving her.
When Naidu asked Singh what would make Naidoo want to burn herself, he answered: “She probably knew I was serious. “I was in the kitchen having a glass of beer while we were speaking.”
“I thought you had the beer after she went upstairs,” Naidu countered, to which Singh said he had “misspoken”.
Naidu asked him about the burnt debris found in the toilet and if he disputed that it was Naidoo’s burnt clothing. He did not.
“Why would she take off her clothes if she intended to burn herself, can you answer?”
“No, I don’t know,” he responded.
“The reason why you don’t know is because it just doesn’t make sense,” Naidu said.
“She was screaming for her mother, she was screaming ‘help me and I’m burning’. Why would she scream these things if she intended to set herself alight? Does that make sense?” “No,” Singh said
The matter was adjourned for November.