A “SUGARS addict” has been arrested for the violent attack on a Chatsworth pensioner during a home invasion at his Arena Park home on Saturday morning, which left him in a critical condition in hospital.
Shelindra “Pops” Thakur, 71, of Tourmalin Avenue, was hit on his face with a glass mug. The suspect then grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Thakur in his head and face, before robbing him of his belongings.
Three weeks ago, the same suspect jumped over the fence and stole Thakur’s cellphone while he was gardening, his daughter Priyankha said.
She said her father had retired about a decade ago and spent his days gardening.
“This suspect recently began loitering in the area and he would ask the residents, including my father, for odd jobs. My father noticed the suspect watching him while he was gardening.
“Dad had a routine. He would wake up in the morning and go outside to feed the birds. While he was doing this, the suspect somehow got onto the property and into the house. We are not sure what happened, but at some stage my father confronted him and a fight broke out.
“The suspect hit my father in the face with a mug and stabbed him in the face and the side of his head before fleeing.”
Priyankha said neighbours assisted her father and he was taken to hospital, where he remained in ICU.
His kitchen door neighbour, Barbara Haripersadh, told the POST that it was around 7am when she heard Thakur’s frantic screams for help.
She said she panicked and started screaming herself when she saw his blood-covered face.
“It was all very quick. I just remember Pops called for me at the back door. I started screaming when I saw him and called out for another neighbour, Arnold, from the Community Police Forum (CPF). I then ran next door to see what had happened,” said Haripersadh.
Naidoo, of the Arena Park CPF, said it was “extremely disappointing that such an old man was so violently attacked”.
He said he was one of the first people at the scene, and saw Thakur “drenched in blood”.
Naidoo said the suspect was known in the area and was often seen rummaging through the trash bags that residents left outside their homes for collection by the refuse services.
“I was still in bed when I heard Barbara
screaming. I got up with a shock. It was raining and I thought I would sleep in. When she screamed my name, I knew something was wrong. I got up and immediately ran across the road to investigate.
“When I walked into Pops’s house, there was blood spattered on the walls and floor. Pops was bleeding profusely from his face and head. His shirt was covered in blood. He was talking to us, but I could see he was confused and disorientated,” said Naidoo.
“He had deep cuts on his head and face. It seemed like something – like a glass bottle or mug – had been smashed onto his face. Pops also said the suspect had pushed him down before he ransacked his entire house.”
Naidoo added that all the cupboards and draws in the house had been opened and rummaged through.
“It is unclear at this stage what was taken, but his car keys are missing.”
Naidoo said he believed the suspect had been watching Thakur’s movements. “Pops prided himself on his garden and was always seen working outside. He is also old and moves slowly. I think the suspect took advantage of this.”
Mayixole Mqathu, of One Stop Security, said Thakur had been standing in the road the morning of the incident when he saw a man follow him into his yard.
“At the time I was standing on the road and could see the uncle at the corner, near the black plastic refuse bags. He then walked back inside his house. I noticed another man also on the road, just fiddling about. He looked like he was watching the uncle. But, I did not find anything suspicious.
“When the old man went back into the yard the man followed him. A short while later, I saw the man leave Thakur’s property with a white parcel but could not see exactly what it was,” Mqathu said.
“I then heard the aunty from next door, Barbara, screaming loudly and saw her run onto the street. The old man had been robbed and attacked.”
He said another neighbour quickly viewed his CCTV footage and they managed to get a description of the suspect and what he was wearing.
Naidoo said the man, who is believed to be a sugars addict, was later arrested by police behind the Montford Shopping Centre.
The POST