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WARNING | *If you’re related to the victims, please consider avoiding this story due to the graphic descriptions*
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By Tuesday evening, temperatures in KwaZulu-Natal were starting to drop.
A welcome reprieve from the blazing heat.
The shift in weather patterns is always more pronounced in areas like Newark.
Wide open spaces, extensive greenery, fewer houses.
It’s mostly rural, and adjacent to the Tugela River.
It's one of those places that's easy to miss if you are not looking for it.
Much like Alan Monswamy's modest home.
Just off the R102, hidden from sight.
But, unfortunately, not to everyone.
Around 9pm that night, four young men silently approached the Monswamy residence.
It was familiar to at least one of them.
After all, Alan - who did maintenance work - was his employer.
He knew the Ford Ranger they would eventually steal.
He knew the layout of the property they would rob.
He knew the family they'd do unspeakable things to.
All seven relatives who'd later spend their final moments begging for mercy in a soggy, secluded bush, far away from home.
Under the cover of darkness, the men slithered into the fenced property.
Inside, Alan had settled in for the night with his family.
His wife, Sandy, and their children Kraidon, 27, and Shamarie, 20.
His in-laws, Mooniamma Padayachee, 79, Mariamma Appanah, 83 and Cliffy Padayachee, 51.
Their attackers wouldn't have struggled to gain access through the kitchen door.
There's no security gate.
Unheard of in big cities, but pretty normal in rural KZN.
A now-tragic testament to the inherent trust here.
Alan may have reacted first to the intruders' presence.
But the silver 9mm pistol the criminals had - stolen in Flagstaff, EC, in February - was the decider.
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