Arriving home from an appointment on 21 August, Randburg resident Navin Jeewanlall was attacked by a stranger inside his complex.
Jeewanlall said, “I pulled into the driveway and parked my car in the garage, then proceeded to make my way to my apartment on the first floor. As I was walking up the stairs I noticed a large male standing at the top of the staircase. At first I thought he was the tenant living in another flat. I then took two more steps up and looked again as the face of this man did not look familiar. He opened up his eyes really wide, started to breathe heavily, screamed at me and then he started running down the stairs throwing punches.”
Jeewanlall was knocked down by his assailant and fell down the stairs. “As I landed on the ground the man jumped on top of me and continued punching me in the face and ribs.” Jeewanhall was powerless and started shouting for help. Neighbour Jane Chetty heard the screams and ran down the stairs to assist him.
“He became angry with us as I tried to stop the fight, luckily a minute later my neighbour came outside and asked the attacker to stop assaulting Jeewanhall,” Chetty recalled. He then called the police who arrived shortly thereafter.
“As soon as the police arrived the attacker climbed off me and was taken away by the officers from the Randburg Police Station,” said Jeewanlall. “I went up to my neighbour’s apartment and waited for the police to come and take my statement, but they never did.”
Chetty added, “We spoke to the neighbour in no. 26 after the incident and he confirmed that the male was in fact his housemate’s brother. The man in question became aggressive and the tenant locked him out. I think when Jeewanlall arrived the man decided to take out his frustrations on him.”
Jeewanlall suffered severe bruises on his chest and a sprained ankle and was taken to Olivedale Clinic. “I later learnd that the police found the attacker to be mentally unstable and dropped him off at the Helen Joseph Hospital,” Jewanlall concluded.
Randburg Police Spokesperson Johannes Maja was unavailable for comment at the time of going to print.
