A brief stop to buy tomatoes cost a Chatsworth great-grandmother her life. She was laid to rest yesterday.
DHANLUTCHMEE "Radha" Pillay, 70, was shot in the stomach whilst purchasing tomatoes at a vegetable stall on Road 701 in Chatsworth on Thursday. It was alleged that a courier van was hijacked in Montford, Chatsworth, and that another vehicle had given chase when shots were fired.
Pillay's granddaughter, Kayla Naidoo, said her granny died in R K Khan Hospital soon after discovering she had been shot in the abdomen.
"She was with her sister and her nephew. She got out of the car to buy her stuff. When they heard the gunshots my granny was in a state of shock. She told them she had been shot. My aunt and uncle checked her but could not see anything.
"When they got home they could see she was bleeding and then rushed her to hospital where she passed away. Everything happened so quickly. Everyone's shocked and in disbelief," said Naidoo.
She said the chase for the hijacked vehicle began close to their home, also in Montford, and ended with her being a victim of it a short distance away.
"We still don't know the details as to who shot her. We are waiting to hear more from the police," she said.
Naidoo described her granny as the elder in the family who everyone turned to. "She was wonderful and loving. She was loved by her neighbours and everyone she met," she said.
Police spokesperson, Col Robert Netshiunda, said Chatsworth police were investigating a case of murder.
"It is alleged that the deceased alighted from a car to go to a store. Thereafter, there were gunshots. Reports indicate that the victim discovered that she had gunshot wounds on her right and left side of the stomach when she was undressing at home. She was taken to hospital for medical attention where she was declared dead," confirmed Netshiunda.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE