Court

Military officer on trial for attempted murder

November 18, 2019 4:25 pm

Rajiv Padhyachi who is on trial for allegedly attempting to murder his partner in Colo-i-Suva last year by drowning her was acting weird on the day of the alleged incident.

The 37-year-old complainant testified to this in the Suva High court today as the attempted murder trial began.

28-year-old Padyachi who is a military officer by profession is charged with one count of attempted murder.

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It’s alleged that on 15th September last year he pushed his partner into the water and tried to drown her at the Colo-i-Suva Forest Park in Suva.

Today, he pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The complainant informed the court that she met Padhyachi in November 2017 through her cousin.

She said Padhyachi was in need of some money and her cousin introduced her to him.

The complainant testified that they became friends and a month later Padhyachi told her that he was in love with her.

She said that she thought that it was alright to have a relationship with him.

She further said that she gave Padhyachi a loan as he had wanted to invest money into his IT business.

The 37-year-old testified that by August 2018, she had loaned Padhyachi more than $80,000.

She said she also drew up an agreement to ensure that Padhyachi paid her up however by August 2018, he did not pay her any money as promised.

The complainant said that on 15th September, she accompanied Padhyachi to the Colo-i-Suva pool who she says was acting weird.

She said that prior to the 15th of September, she went with Padhyachi to the pool as he had told her that he needed a swim after his training.

However, she said that she found it strange that he didn’t swim at all.

She said that he used to go and stand by the pool and stare at the water.

She said that on the day of the alleged incident Padhyachi asked her to change her clothes when they reached the pool at Colo-i-Suva however he did not change and neither did he go inside the pool.

She said that Padhyachi was very quiet that day.

The complainant said that on that day their plan was to go for a swim and then to the bank as Padhyachi was supposed to repay her loan.

The trial will continue tomorrow.