Dog caught in Narandas battle
Son demands mom and lover return his Pookie
A FIGHT over a three-year-old Pomeranian has escalated into a legal war between murder accused Rajiv Narandas, his mother and her lover.
On Friday, Narandas filed an urgent application in the High Court in Durban against Marco Accolla and his mother, Rosanne.
It details the relationship between Accolla and Rosanne, who are co-owners of the Ooh La La boutiques, and her estranged husband, Krish.
Narandas — who is facing a murder charge for the fatal stabbing of Veenand Singh outside a Gauteng nightclub in 2008 — asked that a toy Pom named Pookie be returned to him.
But in interim responding papers, Accolla, who is cited in Narandas’s papers as Rosanne’s boyfriend, said the dog had lived with him and Rosanne for many months.
“I am taking care of Pookie as I have for many months. Pookie sleeps in my bed with me, has a hearty meal of dry biscuits and chicken every night and enjoys braai meat with me every Friday,” he said.
In his founding affidavit, Narandas said he made a “loose arrangement” with his mother to share contact with his dogs — Pookie and 16-year-old Max, which was a gift from his father — when his parents separated in 2008.
He said the arrangement worked well until July this year when his mother went to China on a business trip. Accolla prevented his driver, who had been sent to pick up the dogs, from taking them, he claimed.
Max was returned to Narandas by Rosanne when she returned last month.
Narandas said there was “bad blood” between him and Accolla.
“He was my good friend and only a few years older than me. He came between my mother and father when commencing a relationship with my mother.”
Accolla accused Narandas of using Pookie as “a ‘football’ to terrorise, manipulate and obtain an advantage” over his parents and Accolla.
He described Narandas as an “aggressive” man.
He provided pictures of the Narandases’ Westville residence after an alleged rampage by Narandas.
They showed an empty room with the words “I hate my mother” spray-painted on the wall. Another picture showed Krish sitting on an unmade bed next to a smashed painting. The wall in the room had also been spray-painted with the words “[I want] my dogs back”.
Accolla included in his court papers an e-mail from Rosanne to an attorney on July 29 2013 detailing the alleged damage Narandas caused to the home.
Narandas told the Sunday Times Extra the images were forged. “This is all false. Those images were photoshopped. Accolla has been in my house many times before in 2008. He has photographs of the house.” Accolla denied the allegation. “My counsel would also not associate themselves with fraud, so I sincerely doubt his version of events. I have never been inside his house since I cut ties with him in 2008, and I have no intention of going there in future.”
Neither Rosanne nor Krish responded to queries.