Sunday Tribune

Man held over gran’s murder

Jennifer Pillay, knew her alleged suspect, who is set to appear in court tomorrow

- MERVYN NAIDOO mervyn.naidoo@inl.co.za

A MAN known to 65-year-old Chatsworth grandmothe­r Jennifer Pillay, who was found dead in her bathroom on Christmas Eve, was taken in for questionin­g last week.

Police spokespers­on Captain Nqobile Gwala confirmed that a charge of murder was being investigat­ed.

According to the police, the postmortem revealed that the cause of Pillay’s death was strangulat­ion.

A well-placed source said the 53-year-old suspect was expected to be charged today and to appear in court tomorrow.

Pillay, who had a Master’s degree in health sciences, retired from the nursing profession in 2016 after many years of practice in Saudi Arabia.

She was about to relocate to Birmingham in the UK to live with her son, Gino, at the time of her death.

Her other child, Carynne Maritz, lives in Perth, Australia.

“Gino and Jenny bought a house together and she had already paid a large sum of money for her four dogs to move with her to the UK.

“As a family, the news of her death left us enraged and devastated,” said Pillay’s brother, Duggie Perumal.

He said his family welcomed the news that a suspect was taken in for questionin­g.

“We are satisfied in the sense that there could be something to explain her death and give us closure,” he said.

Perumal said his sister, who had remarried, shared a close bond with both her children from her first marriage, and they were most affected by her death. “Jennifer’s children were little when their father died under tragic circumstan­ces.

“He was murdered. She single-handedly raised her children.

“My sister had great respect for human beings. As a nurse her patients always came first.

“It feels surreal that we were at our last family get-together, the day before Jenny died. Christmas will never be the same,” said Perumal.

 ?? ZANELE ZULU African News Agency (ANA) ?? THE suspect taken in for questionin­g following the death of Chatsworth grandmothe­r Jennifer Pillay, right, is, left, in between Detective Sergeant Shadrack Govender and Constable Luthando Movovo. |
ZANELE ZULU African News Agency (ANA) THE suspect taken in for questionin­g following the death of Chatsworth grandmothe­r Jennifer Pillay, right, is, left, in between Detective Sergeant Shadrack Govender and Constable Luthando Movovo. |
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