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Lamaha Canal claims life of epileptic teen
The partially decomposed body of a seventeen-year-old epileptic, Jermaine Croft, was fished out of the Lamaha canal aback of Durban Backlands at around 07:00hrs yesterday morning, five days after his mother had reported him missing.
Dead: Jermaine Croft
The body bore teeth marks believed to be those of the deadly piranha that infest the water.
A man who gave his name as Orrin, who lives in the squatting area close to the Lamaha Conservancy, told this newspaper that he was attending to his ablutions and was passing by the canal when he noticed the body in the water. It was nestled among some weeds. The body was clad in a red jersey and blue pants. The man said that he immediately raised an alarm, and residents rushed to help. They later called the police. Shortly afterwards, the law enforcement authorities arrived, accompanied by undertakers from the Lyken Funeral Home, and transported the body to the morgue.
When this newspaper visited Jemaine’s home, his mother, Deon Croft, was not there. She was found at an Internet café, relaying the news to other family members. Amidst tears, she disclosed that this is the second of her children to die under such tragic circumstances. She said that Jermaine acted normal at birth. However, when he was about six years old, she had left him at home to care for his infant sister, Reishede. When she returned, she received the distressing news that Jermaine had opened the door and allowed Reishede to leave the house. The child had fallen into the canal adjacent to the house and drowned.
The woman said that, around that time, she noticed that her son was acting strange. Further checks revealed that he was stricken by a mystery illness. She said that the lad would be sitting and then all of a sudden he would start convulsing while claiming that a man was choking him. He also complained of abnormal pains in his stomach. The grieving woman said that, following the advice of some friends, she decided to take Jermaine to church. She said that the decision appeared to be bearing fruit, since Jermaine began to show signs of improvement.
The aggrieved mother of the dead youth, Deon Croft
However, shortly afterwards, he reverted to his old ways. The woman said that her son would disappear and friends would inform her that he was at the Texaco Gas Station on Mandela Avenue, begging for money. He carried an exercise book with unintelligible writings while soliciting charity from patrons. His mother said that she tried her best to dissuade him, and when everything else failed, she decided to employ drastic measures. She said that she affixed a length of chain to his hands and legs and then locked the chain to the bed.
The woman said that her son somehow managed to break the padlock and return to his devices. “Just two weeks ago he break de chain and walk pon de highway and barely miss dead,” the woman related. She said that a car had struck down her son. Fortunately, he only sustained minor injuries.
The woman said that, on the morning that her son disappeared, she had noticed him with a long stick and some string. He had told her that he was making a fishing rod to go fishing. She said that her son could not swim, and she warned him against venturing into the Lamaha canal. She said that no sooner had she returned indoors than the lad disappeared. She believes that he may have ventured into the ‘Backdam’ to fish. That was the last time she had seen him.
The woman said that the boy’s father had abandoned him ever since he was about five years old. She is not certain if the father is in Guyana.
When this newspaper arrived on the scene, the lad’s body had already been taken to the funeral parlour. However, residents said that the badly decomposed state suggested that the body had been in the water for some time. A few residents were milling around discussing the tragedy, while others speculated that Jermaine might have climbed into the plum tree at the edge of the canal to pick some of the fruit. There was no evidence of the fishing apparatus his mother said he had left the home with.
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