Ex-wife of ‘killer cop’ speaks

THE ex-wife of disgraced policeman Sagren Malayan has spoken for the first time of their fallout after he was convicted of murdering a teenager.

An emotional Elaine Malayan said on Monday after her ex husband’s failed bid for bail, pending his appeal, that he was “grasping at straws”.

The former warrant officer, who had shot Romano Dean Govender, 19, with his state issue firearm at a 16th birthday party in October 2012, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on September 3.

It was his second attempt at bail in the Durban Magistrate’s Court but magistrate Anand Maharaj found on Monday that the facts presented were not new, as pointed out by prosecutor Kuveshni Pillay, and therefore ruled against the application.

Sagren Malayan, 42, in a detailed affidavit presented by his attorney, Viren Singh, had appealed to the court to grant him bail so that he could comfort his 15-year-old daughter, who he said was devastated by his incarceration.

He claimed his daughter preferred to live at his home with his brother and not with her mother.

He also claimed his ex wife had sought the keys to the house from his brother on September 6, three days after his conviction.

“If granted bail pending the appeal, I will be in a position to provide the necessary counselling to get her (his daughter) to come to terms with the harsh reality of the situation (of his possibly going to jail). I believe that I am an essential part of the process,” Malayan said.

“Since my incarceration I have not seen her.”

He said if granted bail he would go to the high court or children’s court to ensure that his brother had full custody of his daughter.

In an interview with POST, Elaine said Sagren was making things difficult for her.

“Every avenue has been against me. Even in prison, he is still tormenting me. I have no contact with my child now.“

She said as a mother she had the best interest of her child at heart.

“She is a young girl. I asked for the (house) keys so that I could monitor her. This has nothing to do with money. That is my child.”

The unemployed 36-year-old said she had obtained a divorce after the marriage became unbearable.

“I landed in hospital and I couldn’t take it any longer. It affects me a lot.”

In his application, Sagren said he was the sole guardian of his daughter since the divorce two years ago, and that she was the “centre of my universe”.

He said that although his life was being threatened by other Westville Prison inmates, who were out to get him because he was a police officer, he was more concerned about his daughter.

Magistrate Maharaj ruled that the girl remain with Sagren’s brother until the appeal is heard, which could be next year.

A police officer for over 20 years, Sagren was suspended in December 2012 and dismissed in March last year. He later worked as a general labourer at his brother Devan’s security company.