A night out with a fellow hearing impaired friend turned tragic when one of them was allegedly attacked from behind with a bar table and kicked in the stomach several times, leading to him being brain dead for more than a month. In surveillance footage handed over to police by the hotel’s management team, Reddy’s brother, Lenny Reddy, said he was told that a short while after the argument, a man is seen approaching him from behind.
“He was hit with the table from the back. After he fell to the ground, the man is seen kicking him repeatedly in his abdomen area. I was told by his friend that after he was assaulted, he sat at a table and was in pain. After about an hour and a half, he managed to drive himself home. When my parents noticed that he was in severe pain and had been assaulted, he was rushed to hospital,” he said.
Taking a turn for the worst this weekend, doctors notified his family that there was nothing more that they can do and his brother had to fill in a ‘do not resuscitate’ form so his life hangs in the balance.“If a person was just attacked violently in your establishment and that person was still sitting there in pain, it is obvious that something terrible is happening to that person and yet the staff did not find it necessary to call an ambulance. Is this the kind of society that we live in. To date, nobody who was at the hotel on the day of the incident and who witnessed the incident came forward to make a statement,” said Reddy.
Meanwhile, manager of the hotel, Avesh Ramkissoon, said, “An altercation broke out on the night in question between two patrons. Our contracted security detail immediately ensured the aggressor was removed from the premises. The second patron in question remained in the casino and subsequently left the premises about 60 minutes after that under his own will.”
Communications officer of the eThekwini Inner South cluster, Cpt Cheryl Pillay, said they are appealing to the public to assist police with the attempted murder case that is being investigated.
“It is alleged that a man was assaulted at the Savera Hotel in Kharwastan. The victim was hospitalised due to the severity of his injuries. Investigators at Chatsworth SAPS have obtained video footage from the hotel, which has been sent for analysis,” she added.
Anyone who may have witnessed the incident is urged to contact the investigating officer, Det Sgt Peters on 076-811-9255 or Lt Col Mkhize on 082-411-6416.