R10 000 – that’s the amount Devika Rani Seeripat, 73, was prepared to pay to have her daughter, Ashrika Seeripat, killed.
On July 7 last year, Ashrika, 42, who was unemployed at the time of her death, was found strangled in the bedroom of her home in Kadville Heights, Umzinto.
A few days later, police arrested Seeripat, who ran a crèche from her home; Bongi Mbili, 54, the domestic worker; and Madodandina “Patrick” Mkula, 42, a gardener.
The three are on trial in the High Court, sitting in Scottburgh. Mbili is a State witness. They have pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.
The matter is being presided over by Judge Jacqui Hendricks.
Testifying in her defence, Seeripat said that she had been subjected to verbal, emotional and physical…