Family search for answers

THE family of a Verulam man who was allegedly knocked and killed during the recent unrest, are looking for answers.

Desagan Raman, 34, of Todd Street, was assisting the community in Dawncrest, when he was allegedly knocked in an apparent hit-and-run last Tuesday. The father of one died at the scene. Kaveshni Raman Surubgit, his sister, said the family had not heard from him that afternoon and called his phone, which was answered by a police officer.

“Our dad stayed with him, and our mom stayed with me. However, on that day, my dad was with me and we had not heard from my brother. When my mom called, a police officer answered. When she asked about my brother, she was told to come to the police station.

“We were devastated when we arrived and they told us that my brother was killed in an accident, and was already taken to the mortuary. We were told he was knocked in a two-vehicle collision, but there was no other information given to us. All we know is that he had gone out to help the community.”

Surubgit said Raman, who had a degree in human resources, was careerdriven. He recently started a new job at an IT service management company in uMhlanga.

“My brother was intelligent and a go-getter, who never gave up easily. He was also funny and tried to make the best of every situation. Desagan also fought to be a better person through the many challenges that he experienced in his life.

“We want justice but we also want answers to our questions in order to gain more insight as to what happened on that day. More importantly, I want peace for my brother. I blame the government for not acknowledging the magnitude of

all the protests and for not taking action at the onset of what was happening in our communities. If action was taken earlier, my brother would have still been here with us today.”

Raman was cremated at the Verulam Crematorium on Tuesday.

The police did not comment at the time of publication.