Durban — The pre-sentencing reports for the Phoenix man convicted of murdering his wife and children will be ready in early November.
Kista Chetty was tried and convicted in September for the 2021 murders of his family who perished in a fire deliberately started by him in the Durban High Court.
On Monday, it had been expected that sentencing proceedings would begin, however, it emerged in court that the anticipated social worker’s report would only be ready on November 7.
Chetty is convicted of the murders of his wife Elisha Naidoo, 39, 13-year-old daughter Jadene, 9-year-old son Jordan, 8-year-old daughter Aarav and 3-year-old nephew Aldrin.
The family had lived in a bedroom in a house that they rented on Kidstone Place in Phoenix.
Chetty’s brother-in-law Deon Naidoo and others lived in the lounge of the same house, there were 12 of them in total living in the house.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges including arson.
Chetty had earlier told the court that he had taken a 5-litre container that had petrol in and poured some of it into the cap of the container and emptied the contents of the lid onto his stomach over his shirt.
He then lit his T-shirt and when his wife screamed that he was on fire he quickly took it off and threw it on the ground without realising it had landed on the 5-litre container.
His intention was to kill himself by setting himself alight after he had an argument with his wife.
This had been after an earlier physical fight with Deon following which Chetty was pushed out of the house by his wife and daughter and locked out.
He returned later that night asking to be let into the house, the door was open for him.
Chetty did not want his brother’s wife living with them as he would often make monetary contributions to the house but would later demand his money back from his sister and she would give in to the demand.
On Monday, in court, Chetty’s Legal Aid attorney Musa Chiliza indicated that he only had the Correctional Services report.
“I’m waiting for the social worker report and it has been indicated that they need more time.”
Social worker Zenzele Sbusiso Zulu assured the court that the report would be ready on November 7.
“If the report is not ready on November 7 you will be in contempt of court,” warned Judge Carol Sibiya.
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Daily News