A South African court on Monday slapped life sentences on three persons accused of killing the wife of a prominent Indian-origin businessman.
A fourth person, also accused in the killing of Maetri, 56, wife of Arvind Roopanand, who runs Roopanand and Sons, was sentenced to 24 years in prison by a local high court.
The Roopanand and Sons, a 50-year-old firm that deals with Indian goods is quite a household name.
Maetri, a well-known socialite, was killed a year ago by Magaret Msomi, her family's domestic help of 10 years in Durban's Reservoir Hill area. The court sentenced to life Msomi, along with Nkosana Ngcamu and Zakhele Shabane, whom she had hired to be partners in the crime.
She was also given another 15 years for robbery. The fourth person, Phumlani Cele, who was also hired by Msomi for the murder, was sentenced to 24 years in jail.
Judge, Thumba Pillay, found all the four guilty last week of the murder. While passing the verdict, he said the Roopanands were not the only ones to face such a blow.
Every family that employed helps were at a risk, as the employees knew of the family's value holdings and security set ups. The court ruling comes at a time when Indians in Durban are coming out with their anger at the high rate of armed car hijackings, violent burglaries, break-ins and hold-ups that they say are mostly aimed at them.
"Indians had become soft targets of criminals," said Bridgelall Ramguthee, editor of the Post newspaper in Durban in an editorial.
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