Durban — The trial against a Clare Estate man who allegedly stabbed his mother 26 times, killing her just days before Mother’s Day and the day before his birthday was adjourned on Friday in the Durban Magistrate’s Court to sit again in November.
Uveer Jaganath is on trial for the 2021 murder of his mother, Jessica, whom he allegedly killed in their Clare Hill home.
The accused has pleaded not guilty. In his plea explanation he said several hours before the incident, he had snorted 3g to 4g of cocaine, smoked cigarettes laced with cocaine, and also smoked dagga joints.
He also said he had no recollection of the alleged incident which happened after a heated argument with his mother over a pack of cigarettes she had found in his bag.
Uveer is out on R20 000 bail granted in the high court on appeal, after it had been refused in the lower court.
During the trial, two of Uveer’s relatives – his grandfather’s brother and his cousin – testified. Both said they arrived at the accused’s home to find Jessica lying in a pool of blood in her bedroom.
Both relatives said while at the house on the day of the murder, Uveer had not explained to them what had happened. His cousin who rode with him in the ambulance to the hospital said even then he did not say what had transpired.
But another witness, a neighbour who owns a security company and had arrived on the scene, testified that Uveer had said that he had not meant to “do it”, and that he was “defending” himself.
A nurse as well as a doctor from St Augustine’s Hospital where Uveer was treated for stab wounds on his leg and abdomen, testified that the accused had told them he had been stabbed by his mother.
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