‘He maintained his innocence’

“If they would see us at a mall or anywhere they would quietly smile and wave. This man kept these children with him and would not allow us to spend any time with them at all.

“The only time we got with them was when he was in jail for seven months and his family would send them to us. But since he’s been out, our requests always fell on deaf ears.”

Meanwhile, Osman’s brother, Aziz Rashid, said he believed in karma.

“Whatever you do comes back to you and he got what he deserved. He was a coward of a man to do what he did. He put my sister through hell and left her there (in prison). He never bothered to check on her or visit her in prison once.”

According to a family source, Manilall would not have found prison life easy.

“He was very dominating and could easily influence people, and he went in once and I don’t think he liked it very much so he decided to take an alernative route.

“Prison life would not have suited him and he knew he was going to a hell hole.”

He said Monika’s family had been put through “an emotional roller-coaster”.

It is not yet clear who was at home in Howick West when Manilall ended his life, but the source said it could have been his third wife and their toddler, his two daughters from Monika or even his parents.

POST has been unable to make contact with Manilall’s family, but his lawyer, Kogulan Chetty told POST he had chatted to his client around midday on Monday.

“We chatted and he was in shock and very distressed... He said he would call me the next day, but he didn’t.”

Speaking after Manilall’s funeral, Chetty said family members were distraught.

He said Manilall had maintained his innocence until his last day.