Mystery engulfs death of Montford father
The family is baffled as to what happened to their loved one as he was a very humble individual.
The shocking and unexplainable death of a personable and respectable Montford man has left behind more questions than answers, with family, friends, and colleagues suspecting foul play.
The cause of death remains a mystery to officials. Deon Alam was found in the backseat of his car, which was allegedly left unlocked and abandoned in the parking lot of the RK Khan Hospital.
The 34-year-old’s body was covered with a jacket. Social media caught wind of the incident and a relative released a statement, which was widely circulated.
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In this, she pleaded for the public’s help and explained that the body of her loved one was found ‘brutally battered with broken limbs’ and what appeared to have been injuries sustained with a bush knife.
The family is baffled as to what happened to their loved one as he was a very humble individual.
Communications officer at Chatsworth SAPS, Cpt Cheryl Pillay, said that on Sunday, January 15, at about 8pm, family members alerted police to a body that was discovered in a vehicle parked in the parking lot of a local hospital.
“Investigations conducted led police officers to the crime scene where the body of an Indian male, aged 34, was found in his vehicle. The paramedics in attendance declared the man dead. It is alleged by family members that the deceased had left his home on Friday night and proceeded to an unknown destination. On Saturday, January 14, a family member received information that his vehicle was parked at the local hospital. The body of the deceased was removed to the government mortuary where a post-mortem was conducted to ascertain the cause of death. At the time of removal from the scene, there were no physical injuries to the deceased’s body,” explained Cpt Pillay.
The station commander of Chatsworth SAPS, Brig Ruth De Villiers, is cautioning the public, who are releasing posts of crime scenes on social media which are unverified and unauthentic, to refrain from such actions.
“Police will release an official statement in respect of a crime scene thereof. Any person, who posts unverified information about a crime scene or photographs of a person/ persons without permission, will be held accountable in terms of the Protection of Personal Information Act. Administrators of social media groups on WhatsApp and Facebook are also cautioned to comply with the POPI Act,” warned Brig De Villiers.
The Rising Sun spoke to Alam’s brother, Jayce Alam, who had explained that he received the devastating news upon his return from an ocean cruise.
“The information behind my brother’s death is convoluted and incorrect. I reside in Johannesburg and have no contact with the other side of his family. On that Friday, Deon was with my other brother and we had a video call. Later in the day, I received another call from him, but I, unfortunately, missed it. I went to the morgue to release his body, however, I could not believe that it was in such a state. He had open wounds to his back and leg, the right side of his body was completely bruised and we could only recognise his features on the other side of the body. A few of his fingers were broken, his eyes looked like they had been pushed into his skull, he also lost most of the hair on his head and his body was in a severe state of decomposition for the amount of time that he was dead. Some say that this was due to the heat but, even a doctor said that this was not possible. From the way his body looked, it seemed like someone had poisoned him or dropped acid on him, that is how bad it was,” said Jayce as he described the grim condition of his baby brother’s body.
He also rubbished claims that his brother was an alcoholic, stating that due to medical conditions including diabetes, Alam had stopped drinking.
“According to some witnesses at the hospital, two men in a Toyota told the hospital staff that their uncle had died and was in the car. Deon received a call from someone and that is where he went that night. Strangely, even though they had found two phones in his possession at the scene, apparently the phone that he had received this call on was missing. His Hyundai was never taken for forensic analysis and is instead sitting in the yard of one of his wife’s family members. The Naidoo family gave us a very hard time in this, from insisting on not allowing people I hired to live stream the funeral to work, to pushing around and bullying my family while threatening us. Further still, if the Naidoo family received a call that he was at RK Khan on Saturday, how do you only go to the hospital the following day almost 24 hours later? How did no one at the hospital notice? Why was his vehicle, which was covered in dry blood, not taken for analysis? Why did his wife open a missing person’s case two days after his body was discovered?” questioned the 49-year-old.
A colleague from the Leather Gallery, where the victim worked, said, “Deon Alam was employed at the Leather Gallery as a fleet manager since February 2020. He was a warm, fun-loving colleague with sober habits for the past 12 years. His bubbly personality would light up any room that he entered. He maintained a good relationship with all his colleagues. Deon was an asset to the company. He was passionate about his job. His death comes across as a shock to all of us. He left home on Friday evening and his brutally tortured body was discovered on Sunday evening in the back seat of his vehicle. We urge the public to please provide police with any information regarding his murder.”
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The Naidoo family declined to share their side of the story when they were contacted.
Investigators are awaiting the results of the post-mortem to establish the cause of death.
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