Husband tells of wife’s affair with her ‘killer’
‘No one has the right to take a life, especially if you claim to love them’
SEVEN months after his wife and two daughters were murdered in their Phoenix home, Sagren Govindsamy has broken his silence about his wife’s alleged extra-marital affair, his love for his daughters and the horror of finding their bodies.
In an exclusive interview with POST this week, Govindsamy called for the harshest punishment for the man who allegedly wiped out his family.
He said his wife Jane, 45, and daughters Denisha, 23, and Nikita, 16, did not deserve to die such a brutal death.
“My daughters were innocent. I am their father and there was not a day I had lifted my hands to them.”
Last week, murder accused Colin Pillay, a tow truck driver, was indicted to the Durban High Court for the triple murder.
The trial has been set down from July 29 to August 8, in the Durban High Court.
The State has alleged that Jane Govindsamy had been in an extra-marital affair with Pillay since 2009.
It is further alleged Pillay had visited Jane at her home, among other places, when her husband was at work or had gone out.
According to the indictments, both daughters were aware of the relationship between their mother and Pillay.
In his daughters’ defence, Govindsamy dismissed the allegations in the indictments as lies.
“In 2012, my daughters had told me that Pillay had been to our flat. I did not confront my wife but decided to investigate the relationship further. One day, I went to her work place and she was not there. I was told she had gone to the bank at the Phoenix Plaza.”
Govindsamy said he waited for her outside the bank and saw her exit with Pillay.
“I approached them and told Pillay to stay away from my wife. I then gave him a couple of shots. He said they were friends. I told him married women should not be friends with men. He then threatened to send a gang after me.”
Govindsamy said the affair ended then and there.
He said he had been married for 23 years and they had devoted their lives to their children.
Responding to Pillay’s claim that his wife had been in a second extramarital affair, Govindsamy said that it was a lie.
“Pillay is making false allegations against my wife. If he is talking about the guy at the bus stop, that is my friend. I had told him to keep an eye on my wife because she had recently started taking the bus to work.
“She was not having an affair with him. I was keeping a close eye on her.”
Govindsamy added that even if his wife had been having an affair, she did not deserve to die that way.
“No one has the right to take another person’s life, especially if you claim to love them.”
He said the memory of finding his family in a pool of blood on September 21 would stay with him forever.
“They were disfigured. I cannot even describe what it felt like seeing my baby lying face down on the floor.”
He said he had since moved out of their rented flat and was living with his mother.
“I lost everything. I didn’t even want to continue with life, but I have somehow found the strength to go back to work.”
Govindsamy works as a machine operator.
He said he would attend the trial and wanted justice.
The State alleges that on the morning of September 20, Jane Govindsamy left for work and Nikita had gone to school – leaving Denisha and Pillay behind.
It is alleged that shortly after leaving home, Jane and the accused began their routine telephonic conversation.
At some point during this conversation, the accused began to suspect that Jane was involved in another extramarital relationship.
The accused was allegedly unable to accept this and decided to kill Jane when she returned home from work.
It is alleged that in order to make good on his plan he had to kill both her daughters as they were at home.
The accused proceeded to their home on Thursday afternoon, aware that Govindsamy’s husband Sagren had left for work.
He went into the home and allegedly armed himself with a knife after which Denisha was attacked, suffering fatal stab wounds.
The accused is then said to have bound her hands and hid her body inside a cupboard.
Nikita returned home from school and she was allegedly strangled to death.
When Jane arrived home after 5pm she was accosted and a struggle ensued.
A sock was stuffed into her mouth and she was stabbed on the head and strangled to death.
The accused is alleged to have stolen R1 850 cash, three Samsung cellphones and an LG television set before fleeing.
Pillay was arrested shortly after the murder by Warrant Officer Bob Pillay of the Provincial Organised Crime Unit.
The State is expected to call 38 witnesses.