Pietermaritzburg - Three Pietermaritzburg family members were found shot dead in their home in Newholmes on Wednesday in what police believe was a murder-suicide.
Police had to break into the home, where they found the bodies of 46-year-old Aradhana Sinanin and her 14-year-old stepdaughter, Sahili Sinanin, in the lounge.
Ramesh Sinanin, the husband and father, was found dead in an upstairs bedroom. He had a gunshot wound to the head. Aradhana had allegedly been shot three times: in the arm, head and chest.
Sahili, a pupil at Raisethorpe Secondary School, was shot in the head and body. The girl is believed to be from the man’s first marriage and her mother is believed to have died two years ago.
Neighbours, who did not want to be named, told the Daily News on Thursday that although recently married, the couple apparently had a stormy relationship. “Yet, the couple seemed loving and were very quiet,” said a neighbour.
According to the police, a domestic worker last saw the couple on Tuesday. She arrived at work on Wednesday morning and knocked on the door. There was no response.
Sinanin’s bakkie was left idling throughout the day until the petrol ran out and it switched off, said another neighbour. Police broke a back door to gain entry on Wednesday night and they found the television sets and airconditioners still on.
Aradhana was previously married and had two boys at a medical school.
It is believed Sahili texted her stepbrother before the shooting. He and his father arrived at the house and tried phoning his mother. There was no answer. The stepbrother called the police.
Attempts to contact Sinanin’s relatives were unsuccessful.
Mountain Rise police spokesman, Captain Gay Ebrahim, said at about 9pm on the day, the police attended to a very “unfortunate” scene at Silver Road in Newholmes.
“The bodies of Aradhana, Sahili and Ramesh Sinanin were found shot dead.”
He said it appeared to have been a murder/suicide in a domestic dispute between the couple.
“Mountain Rise police are investigating,” said Ebrahim.
Daily News