Cops probe granddad's death after allegations of abuse, neglect

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Durban - Negligence or the rantings of an ill man? That is what police will have to determine as they probe the death of a Phoenix grandfather, 77, earlier this month. In the months leading up to his death, the man had reached out by writing handwritten notes to a neighbour, Keeran Govender, whom he regarded as a son. The elderly man had suffered a stroke which had left the left side of his body paralysed. He was also not able to speak. The notes, written with a pencil, were dropped from his bedroom window. He lived on the first floor of a double-storey home he shared with his son, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren.

In the first note, found in June last year, he wrote: “Dear Keeran, why you forgot me? Please, call the police here. I am kept a prisoner upstairs under lock and key. I will explain all to you if you get out here. Please Keeran, you don’t be afraid. Just call the police. Yours, Appa.”

In October last year, he wrote another note. “Please Keeran help me. I am kept a prisoner. Call the police at once. They will get me free. I am under lock and key.”

The first note was found by a neighbour who handed it to Govender, 35, who works for a manufacturing company.

Govender said: “I went to the home to check on him. He was one of my father’s best friends and I knew him since I was a child. He had just had a stroke but he was in good condition.

“A few weeks later I visited him again but found his condition had deteriorated.

“He was thinner, unshaven, his nails were long and he had a bad body odour. I could not bear to see him in that condition.

“I told his son I would bath and shave him, but he refused to let me do so. I did not feel welcome and left the home.

“However, I told other neighbours what I saw. We are a close-knit community. Many of us have been living here for more than 25 years. We are more like a family. Other neighbours offered to help but, again, the family refused.”

Govender said in October, while walking past the house, the pensioner threw the second note at him. He read it but did not know what else to do.

However, in early January, Govender heard from another neighbour that the pensioner had been screaming, presumably because he was being assaulted. He then contacted other family members of the pensioner.

The man’s nephew, Luke Naidoo, said his uncle was a kind soul with a warm heart.

“Before he had the stroke, I would see him regularly. On some occasions he would stay over at my home.

“I visited him a few times and he seemed well. I kept in touch with his son who assured me his dad was fine.”

Naidoo said he was concerned when he saw the notes his uncle had written to Govender and immediately went to check up on his relative.

“When I got there, my uncle was alone in the home with his adult grandson. However, I was not allowed in. I had to push my way through. While I was talking to the grandson, my daughter managed to get to my uncle’s room. She found him on the floor surrounded by dirt.

“He was skin and bones. We could see his spine. His clothes were soaked with his urine. I picked him up and placed him on the bed. He gave me a gentle smile.”

Naidoo said he wanted to take his uncle to hospital, but the grandson became aggressive.

“I left the home and called for an ambulance.

“When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics were denied access to him. They called me and told me they could not do anything further.

“I reported the matter to a social worker but hours before she could get to the house, he died.”

The funeral was held last Tuesday.

Naidoo said when he went to the mortuary to bath and dress his uncle, he saw bruising on his body. He believed his uncle had been assaulted.

However, the post-mortem report cited natural causes as the reason for the death.

The man’s son denied his father was neglected or ill-treated.

“They are not giving me or my family a chance to grieve. All the allegations against us are not true.

“My father liked to sleep on the floor at times. In his old age, he began to do crazy things like throwing his clothing and bedding all over his room.”

The son said he never struck his father. He only scolded him.

With regards to the notes, the son said: “The notes were fake and that is not even his handwriting. Our entire neighbourhood is against us. My family and I are living in fear.”

Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said the case was being investigated by Phoenix SAPS.

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