A Durban man who stabbed his mother 26 times has been found guilty of her murder after the court rejected his claims that he could not remember what happened during the fatal attack.
The Durban Regional Court convicted Uveer Jaganath on Tuesday for the 2021 murder of his mother, Jessica Jaganath, at the family’s home in Clare Hills.
Jaganath shook his head as Magistrate Sophie Reddy delivered the judgment. He then looked towards his family in the public gallery before being led to the holding cells. His family and those in the gallery could still hear him crying as the court moved on to other matters.
Reddy found that Jaganath had the necessary criminal capacity at the time of the killing. She also found that he deliberately stabbed his 44-year-old mother and understood what he was doing.
The court rejected Jaganath’s claim that he had suffered memory loss during and after the incident. Reddy found that his evidence was unreliable and that he had been dishonest in several respects.
According to the court’s findings, three people were in the house at the time of the attack. Only Jaganath went to the kitchen, fetched a knife and then stabbed Jessica in her bedroom. The court found that he later stabbed himself in an attempt to create a defence.
Reddy also found that Jaganath did not try to assist his mother after the attack.
Jessica was killed in May 2021, days before Mother’s Day and one day before her son’s birthday. At the time, Jaganath was a third-year student at Varsity College.
He had pleaded not guilty to the murder. In his defence, Jaganath said that he had snorted between 3g and 4g of cocaine and smoked dagga joints and cigarettes laced with cocaine several hours before the incident.
He claimed that he could not remember what happened after an argument with his mother over cigarettes she had found in his bag. The State, however, challenged his version of events and argued that he had the capacity to understand and control his actions.
Reddy described Jaganath as a poor witness. She noted that he repeatedly claimed not to remember what had happened, but that the accounts he gave differed from what witnesses said he told them on the day of the attack.
The magistrate also noted that the only reason Jaganath gave for not remembering the incident was that it had happened three years earlier.
The court found that Jaganath had not told anyone on the day that he had taken cocaine or smoked dagga. Reddy further found that he contradicted himself about the seriousness of the argument with his mother.
The argument had been loud enough for neighbours to hear. Their concern prompted them to check on the family after hearing the commotion.
Two of the State’s first witnesses were Jaganath’s great-uncle and cousin. The court found both of them to be credible witnesses. They had gone to the Jaganath home after hearing the disturbance and saw no signs that Jaganath was under the influence of drugs.
Mohamed Shahzada, a neighbour who owns a security company and was the first person at the scene, was described as an excellent witness.
Shahzada rejected the suggestion that Jaganath had been unconscious or unaware of what was happening. He said police had made a mistake when they recorded that Jaganath had passed out.
Shahzada was adamant that Jaganath was conscious, alert and aware of what he was saying. He also told the court that he had experience with young people who had used dagga and cocaine, and that Jaganath did not appear to be under the influence of either substance.
Two hospital witnesses also impressed the court. They assessed Jaganath’s consciousness at St Augustine’s Hospital after the incident and found him alert and fully conscious.
Reddy noted that the defence had not challenged the hospital witnesses’ findings. Their evidence therefore supported the State’s case that Jaganath was conscious and aware after the attack.
The court also found reliable the statement made by Jaganath’s grandfather, Andy Jaganath, who has since died. His statement was corroborated by other witnesses.
Andy told police in 2021 that Jaganath had said his mother had stabbed herself and then stabbed him after she found him holding a bloodied knife.
Besides Jaganath and Jessica, Andy was the only other person in the family home when the incident occurred. His account became an important part of the evidence considered by the court.
Reddy’s judgment rejected the defence’s attempt to explain the killing through drug use and memory loss. The court instead found that Jaganath had purposefully taken the knife from the kitchen, attacked his mother in her bedroom and failed to help her afterwards.
The conviction means Jaganath will remain in custody while he waits for sentencing proceedings. Reddy revoked his R20 000 bail, which had previously been granted by the High Court on appeal after bail was refused in the lower court.
Jaganath broke down in tears as he was taken to the holding cells following the judgment. His instructing attorney followed him out of the courtroom.
The matter was adjourned to 12 November for sentencing proceedings. The court will then hear submissions before deciding the punishment for Jessica Jaganath’s murder.
The conviction closes the trial phase of a case that began with the killing of a mother in her Clare Hills home in May 2021. It also means that the court has formally rejected the claim that Jaganath lacked criminal capacity or could not recall the events because of drugs or memory loss.
For Jessica’s family, the sentencing proceedings will be the next step in a case that has taken more than five years to reach a conviction. Her son will return to court in November, when the consequences of the guilty verdict will be considered.