Shocking murder-suicide in Harding
A police manhunt for a couple accused of killing their two infant daughters came to a shocking end.
HARDING residents were horrified at the shocking events which played out in Patterson Street last Wednesday.
A police manhunt for a couple accused of murdering their two infant daughters ended in a murder-suicide when Junaid Adam-Shaik (34), shot Stacey-Lee van der Ross (30), and then himself.
According to the Roodepoort Record, the couple fled in February before standing trial in the Johannesburg High Court on charges of murder, assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm and child abuse following the deaths of their two infant daughters, Alaia and Amanee.
According to KZN police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane, the couple was arrested for murder at their business premises near Harding last Wednesday.
“They asked police to allow them to go to their residence to collect their identity documents,” said Maj Zwane. It is thought they meant to prove with their IDs that they were not the fugitives police were looking for.
“They both entered the house and after a short while police heard gunshots. An inquest docket and a murder docket were opened at Harding police station for investigation,” said Maj Zwane.
The Roodepoort Record report adds it is believed that the couple’s daughter Alaia had been abused since her birth on May 11, 2012. She succumbed to her injuries, which included an arm broken in two places and other broken bones and bruises, five months later.
After the couple was arrested, they were granted bail of R5 000 each. Van der Ross fell pregnant again and gave birth to Amanee in December 2013. Three months later this infant too was dead. The couple told friends and family both children had died from ‘choking’.
According to a Harding resident, he thought the pair were foreigners. “We never really got to see them but was shocked when we heard what had happened,” he said.
