Son courts family’s fury over claim
THE family of slain mother-of-two Shanaaz Sewnarain has lashed out at the comments made by her son, Srikesh, in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Tribune.
Shanaaz was murdered in 2010, in an apparent hijacking incident, and the alleged mastermind behind her death was husband Rajiv Sewnarain, who has since been convicted and handed a life sentence.
“He (Srikesh) should have approached us, and we could have dealt with this together,” said Shanaaz’s sister, Sandra Baliram.
Rajiv Sewnarain is being retried in the Durban High Court.
The 51-year-old Clairwood businessman was sentenced in December 2010, but has since successfully applied to appeal against his conviction.
Early this month the couple’s 25-year-old son said he would continue fighting to prove his father’s innocence, while he cared for his 22-year-old sister, who asked not be named.
Srikesh claimed he was labelled a “murderer”, like his father, by the media and others, and was disregarded by his family.
But Baliram dismissed
Srikesh’s claim.
“He has disregarded us, he did not want to acknowledge us after Shanaaz was killed,” said Baliram.
Shanaaz was the third oldest among five Kommal sisters, but Baliram, an older sister, said the murder had ripped a hole in the family and the retrial of Sewnarain reopened their wounds.
“We are reliving this ordeal like a movie. Just when we feel like we’re moving one step forward, we are flung 20 steps back. And Srikesh’s story took us 100 steps back,” she said.
While Srikesh defended his father’s affair, which surfaced in court, Baliram said: “How can a son defend his father’s sordid life? He has desecrated his mother’s memory. We have been robbed of our sister.”
Shiela Kommal, Shanaaz’s 71-year-old mother, said she was deeply hurt to read the comments made by her grandson, and became emotional during the interview.
“There was never a dull moment with Shanaaz, she was so lively,” she said. TO SHOW she was liberated from trauma, 22-year-old Chrysantha Palan strutted on to the UKZN graduation stage.
Her ‘Catwalk Graduate’ video has since received almost a million hits.
The fashion and media enthusiast wore sunglasses and a dress she made for the parade to be capped by the dean.
“It has been overwhelming – my phone has blown up with messages,” she said. Palan graduated with honours cum laude in media and cultural studies.
“I started my studies this year after enduring extreme personal trauma, so being on the stage was my moment to shine,” she said. – Karinda Jagmohan