A jilted boyfriend has been jailed for 12 years for killing his teenage sweetheart for having a crush on another man.
Sholin Bissoon, 22, abducted Kimeera Rajbunsi, 17, from her Phoenix home on March 3 last year, hit the teen with a frying pan, stabbed her and tossed her body in a stream in Glen Anil.
While he told POST he was sorry for his actions, the Durban High Court, which sent him to prison on May 12, had harsh words for Bissoon and other men who regard their girlfriends and wives as “chattels” or possessions.
“Women’s organisations have been campaigning for years that the inferior treatment of women by men should be consigned to the scrapheaps,” said Judge Shyam Gyanda.
He said Bissoon was “overpowering and controlling” towards Kimeera. “She did what he told her. Women should not be regarded as possessions by men. In black culture (including Indians and coloureds), men who have girlfriends and wives think it is fine to set eyes on other women. However, when women do it, then it is deemed a problem. In the past few days I read of three women who were stabbed to death by their spouses. Such crime is prevalent and on the increase,” said Judge Gyanda.
Bissoon, who was dumped by his girlfriend in mid-February last year, pleaded guilty to a charge of murder in December.
He told POST after being sentenced yesterday that he was “very saddened by this tragic event”.
“I wish to say unconditionally how sorry I am to Kimeera’s family and my family for the pain, anguish, grief and trauma I created. I loved Kimeera very much. I regret acting violently.”
The IT student, who obtained 14 distinctions from 22 subjects, said he wanted to complete his studies in prison “and to come out a far better person”.
Bissoon’s apology, however, has been rejected by Kimeera’s family.
Her sister Ashmika, who testified in aggravation of sentence, said Bissoon had not shown one iota of remorse and had not apologised to her or her family personally.
“Never once did he apologise to us. His family can visit him in prison. My sister is not coming back. Sholin aborted her life. My family and I are not happy with the sentence imposed. We are of the view that he should have got a stiffer sentence.”
Ashmika described Bissoon as being controlling and possessive towards her sister.
“He told Kimeera what clothes she should wear. He did not permit her to use Facebook and monitored who she was communicating with on her cellphone. He also stalked her,” she told the court.
“My sister and Sholin were happily in love at one stage, but after Kimeera asked him for a cooling off period, he did not like the idea. Sholin killed her after he saw and removed her diary from our home. Kimeera told me before she was murdered that she had a crush on someone else. That was stated in her diary. She told me she did not meet or communicate with the person before, but her wish was to have a better relationship compared to the one she had with Sholin.”
Judge Gyanda criticised Bissoon’s mother for “shielding her son”.
“Even after he pleaded guilty, the accused’s mother said he was with her the whole day. Only a mother can say this. When mothers shield their children involved in crime, it does not help to reduce the crime levels,” he said.
Attorney Rajen Nathalall, acting for Bissoon, told the court that his client had learnt his lesson from this crime of passion.
State advocate Cheryl Naidoo said the mitigating evidence advanced by Nathalall did not warrant a deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence.