Uveer Jaganath, a 25-year-old man from South Africa, has been convicted of murdering his mother, Jessica Jaganath, 44, in their Clare Estate home on May 6, 2021. The Durban Regional Court magistrate, Sophie Reddy, rejected Jaganath's defense that he had no memory of the murder and was in a drug-induced dissociative or psychotic state at the time. Reddy found that Jaganath's actions before and after the murder showed that he knew exactly what he was doing.
According to the court, Jessica Jaganath was preparing for her son's birthday when he killed her. Just hours before the murder, she had taken her son and his then-girlfriend to a shopping mall to buy a dress for his girlfriend to wear at his birthday dinner planned for the next evening. Partially wrapped gifts and a birthday greeting card lay on the bed in the room where his mother was killed.
The post-mortem examination found 27 penetrating incised wounds on Jessica Jaganath's body, some on her neck, chest, and abdomen. The forensic pathologist testified that the wounds were likely inflicted within a narrow period of time, and some had penetrated both lungs and the heart. The court heard that Jaganath had consumed cocaine and cannabis after the shopping trip, and had met a friend at Varsity College where he was a third-year student.
The court found that Jaganath's actions were "focused and goal-directed," and that he had shown "a clear awareness of what he was doing." Reddy noted that Jaganath's conduct before the attack, including assuring neighboring relatives that everything was fine before obtaining a knife and returning to his mother's bedroom, and his actions afterwards, including stabbing himself, showed that he knew exactly what he was doing.
Jaganath's defense had claimed that he had no memory of the murder and that his mother had actually stabbed him. However, the court rejected this claim, finding that the evidence had established beyond a reasonable doubt that Jaganath had caused the death of his mother. Reddy directed both the State and defense to prepare for the possibility that she could impose a sentence exceeding the prescribed minimum of 15 years.
Jaganath remained largely emotionless as Reddy read out her judgment, but his composure broke when she revoked his bail. He turned towards the gallery and mouthed to his current girlfriend: "I can't do this." He began shaking and was later heard sobbing loudly from the holding cells as he consulted with his lawyer. Outside court, his father paced anxiously.
Jaganath is due back in court in November for the probation officer's report, which will be considered before he is sentenced. The court heard that Jaganath's family, including his younger brother, who was in matric at the time of the murder, and his paternal grandfather, had testified in the trial. Reddy noted that the close relationship between the families may have inclined them to "play things down" to not implicate Jaganath, but found that their testimonies were corroborated by the statements they made both before and after the incident.
Key points
- Uveer Jaganath was convicted of murdering his mother, Jessica Jaganath, 44, in their Clare Estate home on May 6, 2021.
- The post-mortem examination found 27 penetrating incised wounds on Jessica Jaganath's body.
- Jaganath is due back in court in November for the probation officer's report, which will be considered before he is sentenced.
