Online Reporter
DURBAN. – In the past TWO DECADES here, there has been a disturbing trend of children being killed by their parents.
Here are some of those filicide cases.
2006 – Chatsworth: Nikita Ellappen Pillay, 6, was beaten with a belt when she returned home from school with dirty clothes on March 15, 2006. Her father, aged 32, pleaded guilty to culpable homicide in the Durban Regional Court in August 2008. He was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, of which five years were suspended. Post-mortem results revealed that the child suffered long-term abuse.
2013 – Chatsworth: Megandran, 16, and Melarisa, 18, were killed with their mother Mala Kandasamy, 41, by their dad. He attacked them with a mace (Hanuman stick or ghada) in December 2013. The father was sentenced to three life sentences for the murders, which were linked to marital problems.
2014 – Chatsworth: Three-year-old Baby Jamie died after years of torture and abuse, and denial of medical care at the hands of her 31-year-old mother and 55-year-old grandmother. Her grandmother died while awaiting trial in April 2018. Her mother was sentenced to 20 years in prison in November 2018.
2015 – Phoenix: Shahiel Sewpujun, 9, went missing in February 2015 and was found dead in a stormwater drain four days later. He was beaten by his aunt, aged 31, and her mother, aged 54, before his body was dumped. The aunt was sentenced to life in prison, while her mother was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment in November 2016.
2017 – Phoenix: Rinaldo Elijah, 7, was taken to a local park by his father, aged 30, in April 2017. He strangled his son using a rope. In his plea statement, he said he had also intended to kill his four-year-old daughter, but the child had fallen asleep. He was sentenced to 25 years in October 2018.
2021 – Phoenix: Siblings Jaidene Naidoo, 13, Jordan Chetty, 8, Aldrin Chetty, 4, and their cousin Liam Naidoo, 8, together with the siblings’ mother, Elisha Chetty, died after their father doused their one-bedroom flat with petrol and set it alight in November 2021. The father, 59, was sentenced to five terms of life imprisonment and an additional 49 years’ imprisonment for their murders and arson in December 2023.
2023 – Ballito: Madelein Ackerman, a 47-year-old mother from Ballito was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment in June 2024. She pleaded guilty to drowning her four-year-old daughter in a bucket of water in April 2022.
2025 – Roodepoort: Jayden Lee Meek, 11, was found dead a few hours after he was reported missing by his mother in May 2025. His lifeless, partially clothed body was found on a staircase, metres away from his home.
His mother is on trial in the Johannesburg High Court for his murder.
2026 – Tongaat: Leon Munsamy, 37, poisoned his two daughters, Amelia Hope, 6, and Elena Faith, 4, by allegedly lacing their McDonald’s meals.
He was found hanged near their lifeless bodies in February. – IOL
