KwaZulu-Natal police have reported an Asherville man’s death to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate after it was claimed that he was murdered at the hands of a police reservist.
Deen Reddy, 25, who worked at Durban Spice, was beaten and killed on Wednesday night.
According to the mortuary report he died as a result of a brain haemorrhage and a cervical spine injury.
His family believes a police reservist and his nephew were responsible for Reddy’s death.
KwaZulu-Natal SAPS Captain Thulani Zwane said: “A case of murder has been opened and investigations are ongoing.”
Malthi Isaacs, who lived with Reddy, told the family that two men – one thought to be a police reservist – arrived at Reddy’s home in Asherville on Wednesday evening, claiming that Reddy and a friend Leon Joeseph had stolen a lamp from a nearby temple.
They forced their way in, |restrained Reddy with cable ties and threw him in the back of a van with Joeseph, who they had picked up earlier.
Isaacs said Joeseph came to the house the next morning and told her that Reddy had been murdered and that he had been told he too would be killed if he went to the police.
Reddy’s family had not seen or heard from Joeseph.
A missing persons report was filed at the Sydenham police station.
The family checked with hospitals and mortuaries, but there was no sign of Reddy.
On Friday a case of kidnapping was opened.
The following afternoon, a friend of Reddy’s contacted the family and told them that Joeseph had been in touch with him and had told him Reddy was beaten, Tasered and killed and his body was dumped in a river.
The police found his body in Silverglen on Sunday.
“We, as a family, are struggling to take this all in,” Naidoo said.
“Deen was a human being and no one had the right to assault him the way they did.”
“We will not rest until we get to the bottom of this,” added Naidoo.
Reddy’s funeral was held at his mother’s home in Sydenham yesterday.
