A quarrel over dog food is believed to be behind the death of a 67-year-old Verulam man – bludgeoned to death with a pipe – allegedly at the hands of a relative on Monday night.
The man’s bloodied body was found lying in a family temple at their Mountview home north of Durban. Reaction Unit South Africa spokesman Prem Balram said that their officers received a distress call from a neighbour‚ saying that blood had been found at the scene and an elderly man was missing.
“[Security officers were] pointed to a trail of blood leading to the family temple. The bloodied body of Indiren Chetty was found lying face up on the floor‚” he said.
Balram said that paramedics were then called to the scene and declared Chetty dead.
“He suffered deep wounds to his face‚ head and chest‚ as well as a broken jaw and a broken rib.”
One of the man’s relatives was detained at the scene and later handed over to the police.
“During an interview he informed reaction officers that he murdered [Chetty] with an iron pipe during a dispute over the cooking of food for the family’s three dogs‚” Balram said.
Police spokeswoman Captain Nqobile Gwala confirmed that police were investigating a case of murder and that a 47-year-old man had been arrested.
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