Durban — The State has asked that Kista Chetty, on trial for the 2021 murders of his family who perished in a fire said to have been deliberately started by him, be found guilty of the five murders and six attempted murders he faces.
Addressing the Durban High Court on the merits of the case on Friday, Senior State Prosecutor Krishen Shah argued on the point of dolus eventualis.
Dolus eventualis speaks to the principle that a person can be convicted of murder if they foresaw the possibility of their actions resulting in the death of someone, but continued regardless.
Earlier in the trial when Shah cross-examined Chetty, who owned a car and made a living from cutting grass, about his awareness of the dangers of petrol in relation to fire, the accused conceded that he was aware of such dangers.
“The accused is not a young person, he was well aware of the dangers of petrol. Equally so, he had told the court that he’d fill petrol in a container for his grass-cutting machine but never the whole container because the sun would strike it and he demonstrated an explosion with his hands. Bizarrely, he also had said he’d not let his son carry a full container because it was dangerous,” said Shah.
Chetty is on trial for the 2021 murder of his wife Elisha Naidoo, 39, his daughter Jadene, 13, his son Jordan, 9, daughter Aarav, 8, and his 3-year-old nephew Aldrin.
At the time of the incident, the family lived in a bedroom they rented at a house on Kidstone Place, Phoenix.
Chetty’s brother-in-law Deon Naidoo and others lived in the lounge of the same house. There were 12 of them living in the house. He pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against him by the State, including arson. Chetty previously told the court that he had taken the cap of a 5-litre container that had petrol in and poured some into the cap of the container and emptied the contents of the lid on to his stomach over his shirt. He then lit his T-shirt from the hem and when his wife screamed that he was on fire he quickly took his T-shirt 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 opened for him and once in the bedroom, he decided to kill himself.
Chetty did not want his brother’s wife living with them as he would often make monetary contributions to the house but later demanded his money back from his sister who would give in to the demand. He and his wife often argued over this. Chetty also got into arguments with Deon.
Shah argued that there had been no evidence of negligence and this was supported by the evidence of the fire expert who testified that Chetty’s version was unlikely.
“He was aggressive that night and immediately after entering the room he deliberately set the fire.”
Judge Carol Sibiya asked Chetty’s Legal Aid attorney Musa Chiliza to address her on dolus eventualis.
“Given the situation he was in, he did not apply himself. It’s unfortunate that we don’t know what was on his mind.
“I ask the court to accept that he poured petrol on himself and disregarded the fact that there were other people there. I ask the court to find that he did not foresee that the fire was going to kill others,” said Chiliza.
Chetty will know his fate on Monday when Judge Sibiya delivers her verdict.
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