Athmand Supersad shows the Daily News the room his gardener lived in. The man in his sixties was found dead. Picture Doctor Ngcobo Athmand Supersad shows the Daily News the room his gardener lived in. The man in his sixties was found dead. Picture Doctor Ngcobo
Durban - A well known elderly gardener in Verulam was found dead by his employer with his eyes popped out on Saturday.
Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) was called to the scene by homeowner Athmanand Supersad. Robert, as the man was known to the family, had been working for the family and the community since 2001.
According to Supersad, Robert had been sick for a while, but he still thought the circumstances surrounding his death were suspicious.
Robert had apparently hired a caregiver as his condition worsened.
Supersad said on Saturday Robert was visited by two men and they were drinking alcohol outside Robert’s room.
“I chased the men away, telling them that they should finish their alcohol and go,” said Supersad.
The men apparently told him Robert would not get better through conventional medicine, but he instead needed to see a traditional healer.
Supersad said after the unknown visitors left, he went to sleep.
He was then woken early the next day by his sister-in-law who lives up the road. The caregiver had woken her, saying something was terribly wrong with Robert.
“That was also suspicious to me because the caregiver slept in the same room as the gardener so why would she not tell me that something was wrong but instead run up the road?” said Supersad.
He went to Robert’s room to check what was wrong and found him sitting upright on his bed with his eyes popped out.
“After seeing that I just closed the door and called Rusa, because I did not want to touch anything as the whole thing was suspicious to me,” said Supersad. He could not find the caregiver after that.
Lieutenant Colonel Thulani Zwane, a police spokesperson, confirmed the incident.