Durban: A former truck driver, who is accused of killing his wife with poison and staying with her body for four days, could walk free.
This is after an application by his defence counsel to have the matter discharged.
Megan Doorasamy is on trial in the Durban High Court for killing Devashnee Naidoo, 30, a former teacher at Clarence Primary School.
Her body was found in the couple’s one-bedroom Morningside flat in July 2019.
It emerged in court that the unemployed couple, who tied the knot on SABC 3’s Married In A Flash in November 2017, made a suicide pact due to financial difficulties.
The State submitted that Doorasamy made a concoction of antifreeze (an engine coolant) and cranberry juice, which he forced Naidoo to drink before he consumed it himself. Doorasamy, however, woke up the next morning.
Instead of reporting the death to authorities, Doorasamy pawned Naidoo’s cellphone and kept her decomposing body in the flat. Later that week, he drove to the beach to commit suicide but instead handed himself to the police. The police arrived at the flat and found Naidoo’s body with several bruises.
Doorasamy faces charges of murder, theft and defeating the ends of justice.
At the start of the trial last week, senior State advocate Krishen Shah called 11 witnesses and presented 12 documentary documents. Witnesses included Naidoo’s flat supervisor, the police, a pathologist, a doctor and family members.
Wendy Thompson, 77, the flat supervisor, testified that she often heard the couple argue. She said when they first moved in, they seemed like a normal couple who worked and went about their lives.
“Soon the fighting started. When they stopped working, they fell behind in the rent and the fighting worsened. I could never hear his voice, I could only hear hers. At one point, when I was at the washing line, I saw her throw keys into the parking lot.”
Thompson said the fighting was a usual occurrence and she often asked them to stop shouting.
Dying, the best solution
Sergeant Princess Kunene, of Berea SAPS, testified on attending the scene. Kunene said she found three officers from Durban Central SAPS at the flat with the accused, who was seated at the door.
“He was wearing blue jeans and a white track top jacket, which was wet and had sand on it.”
She said the officers told her that Doorasamy’s wife was lying inside the flat.
“Upon entering, it was very dirty inside.”
She said in the bedroom, Naidoo was on her stomach on the floor, with the head facing the door.
“There was internal bleeding towards the corner of the left eye. She was wearing a black vest and black panties. The black and green tights she was wearing were pulled down halfway across the buttocks. The standing fan in the bedroom was on.”
She said when she entered the flat, she could not tell that there was a dead person because there was no odour.
Kunene said she went outside to speak to Doorasamy.
“He told me he and his wife were trying to commit suicide. He told me they sat down and spoke about this. In that discussion, they considered that dying was the best solution for themselves because they did not have children, they were not communicating with their families, and they were both unemployed.”
She said the accused told her that between Friday (June 29, 2019) and Saturday (June 30, 2019), they drank antifreeze, which was mixed with Liqui Fruit.
“They then slept on Sunday. On Monday morning, when he woke up, he realised his wife was lying down. He then realised that his wife passed away but he did not know what to do. He then stayed with his wife for four days. On Thursday afternoon, at 1pm, he went to the beach to throw himself into the ocean. He failed to commit suicide and went to Durban Central Police Station. He told me that he wanted them to assist him as he wanted to commit suicide and his wife was lying down in the flat.”
At that point, Kunene said she radioed for an ambulance, fingerprint experts, detectives and the mortuary van.
“When the ambulance arrived, they turned the body over. There was a wooden necklace and also internal bleeding from the front part of her body. There were red marks on the front of the neck. Her eyes were open and her mouth was black.”
Kunene said she wanted to call Naidoo’s family to notify them of her death but the accused’s cellphone was wet and Doorasamy told her he had sold his wife’s cellphone. She then arrested him.
Warrant Officer P Naicker, of Berea SAPS, said when he looked at Naidoo’s body, he noticed an injury to her eye and bruises to the neck. He said no suicide notes were found.
Findings changed
Dr Vongani Baloyi, a forensic pathologist, changed her findings on the cause of death during her testimony.
Subsequent to the post-mortem examination, she found the cause of death to be blunt force face and neck injuries and ethylene glycol (a dominant substance found in antifreeze).
She testified that she found seven injuries on Naidoo’s body but after medical research, she had ruled out the possibility that it could have contributed to her death.
“I did find injuries to the neck and face but did not know what the injuries were caused by. The injuries were not significant to the cause of death. The bruising could have been caused by decomposition.”
Baloyi said the limiting factor was the decomposition of Naidoo’s body.
“She had external features of decomposition identified by discolouration of the body.”
Baloyi found bleeding from the middle portion of the skull and said her tissues were cooked.
“The brain was liquefying due to the process of decomposition. After the absorption of the substance ethylene glycol, in the next 12 to 24 hours, it will cause an increased pulse rate and increased respiration. So you will have features of low PH levels and you can die of metabolic acidosis.”
She said from 24 to 74 hours, there would be evidence of renal failure, cardiac arrest, and then death. Baloyi said damage to the body was dependent on the ratio of body weight to the amount of antifreeze consumed.
In addition, she found evidence of Fenidrine, a muscle relaxant, as well as Tetrahydrocannabinol (found in marijuana) in the body. She said Naidoo was of poor nutrition and weighed 50kg.
Dr Jabulani Mthethwa, from clinical forensics, testified on his examination of the accused. He found that Doorasamy’s mental and emotional state was normal. Mthethwa did not find traces of drugs or alcohol in his body.
Naidoo’s mother, brother and an aunt also testified on her character. They said she was happy and loved life. They said they sometimes saw bruises on her and she told them she fell.
Application to discharge case
After the State closed its case, Doorasamy’s defence counsel submitted a 174(-page) application before Judge Rashid Vahed to discharge the matter.
Advocate Gugu Gumede and instructing attorney Oscar Dumisani Nzimande argued that the State’s case was weak and lacked prima facie evidence.
“The defence is of the opinion that there is no evidence to suggest that the accused has committed any of the charges levelled against him. There is no evidence that incriminates the accused,” said Gumede.
She referred to State-led witnesses, which she said were of no help to the court.
“There is no possibility of conviction of the accused. We asked for the case to be discharged.”
Shah opposed the application. He said Doorasamy’s version did not coincide with the doctors’ findings.
“We have the accused, who displayed no clinical symptoms. If you keep in mind that after 72 hours, there is brain damage and his assessment was clear.”
Shah said he was also obliged to report his wife’s death but he did not.
“There are a number of calls that he made, none of which were to police officers. This is from July 1 to 5.”
He said Doorasamy was married to Naidoo and had an obligation to protect her.
“If there was a survival interval period, which there was, he did nothing. He failed to do the necessary (thing). The minute that there was a joint pact, he was liable.”
Judge Vahed asked Shah: “What evidence is there that the conception and suggestion of the plan came from the accused and not from the deceased? It is your theory that the accused poured the drink and gave it to the deceased.”
Shah said the submission of “we drank” suggested there was a joint decision.
“When someone says ‘we’, it means conjunctively they made the decision. In this pact, each of them is foreseeing whatever actions made.”
Judge Vahed asked for both parties to submit written arguments. He said he would make his decision, on the application for the matter to be discharged, in June.
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Credit IOL