/ 3 December 2003

Thandree may have been strangled, say police

A post mortem performed on the former daughter-in-law of politician Amichand Rajbansi has shown that she might have died from strangulation, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Tuesday.

Karnagie Thandree (32) was found dead in her upmarket Durban townhouse on Sunday. She was apparently tied to a bedpost, had a piece of rope around her neck and a piece of cottonwool stuffed into her mouth.

Police spokesperson Captain Vishnu Naidoo said the postmortem were done by a state pathologist assisted by a private pathologist designated by Thandree’s family.

The results of toxicological tests were still outstanding, Naidoo said.

According to media reports Thandree and her former husband Vimal Rajbansi would have faced each other next week in the Durban Magistrate’s Court. Thandree had a court order against Rajbansi, stopping him from approaching her or entering her house.

Naidoo said a motive for the murder has not yet been established and police have not yet arrested a suspect.

”Detectives are awaiting an official report as well the results of the toxicological tests…” he said. – Sapa