Durban - Three suspects have been arrested for the murder of a 9-year-old Phoenix boy after a four-day search ended in the tragic discovery of his body in a stormwater drain.
Shahiel Sewpujun was kidnapped while on his way to school in Clayfield, Phoenix, on Thursday morning.
Police said on Monday that the suspects were arrested on Sunday night.
They had not been charged at the time of publication.
Shahiel’s disappearance is believed to have sparked an attempted suicide by two of his relatives, who drank brake fluid.
His body was found on Sunday afternoon by residents who joined police, the SAPS K9 and search and rescue units, as well as private security firms ,VIP Protection and Reaction Unit SA, in the search.
His body was found a short distance from his school. Onlookers lined the street behind police tape after the area where it was discovered was cordoned off.
Pastor Mervin Reddy, who had been active in the search, said seeing Shahiel’s body inside the manhole in a littered grassy area was heartbreaking.
A shaken Reddy said the boy’s body was covered in a plastic bag.
Only his small legs were exposed. He was no longer in the school uniform he was wearing when he was kidnapped.
The boy’s father, Mohammed Shaheer, was in a car at the scene but his view of the recovery was obscured. He could not put his grief into words, merely crying and whimpering: “We found him.”
The boy’s grandfather, Harry Sewpujun, said Shaheer initially stayed away from the scene because he had to be assessed by the paramedics after being overwhelmed by the distress of the news of his son’s death.
Shahiel’s mother, Ishara Deonarian, from whom Shaheer is separated, was too grief-stricken to speak.
They had all been stationed at Shahiel’s school, Clayhaven Primary, which had been turned into a makeshift headquarters for the search effort.
The last Shahiel’s classmates will see of him are probably the flyers - with a picture of him smiling - appealing for information.
A bystander told the Daily News that the police had tried to conceal the body when it was recovered.
“When the mortuary van arrived, they suited up and one of them jumped into the manhole. They held up blankets and silver sheets and quickly removed the boy’s plastic-covered body and put it straight into the van,” she said.
Before the body was discovered, two people were taken in for questioning by the police, said spokesman Major Thulani Zwane.
He would not confirm if they were related to the boy, as was rumoured. Two other people, women related to the boy, are in a serious condition in hospital after apparently drinking brake fluid on Saturday night.
A source, who asked not to be named, told the Daily News a “suicide letter” had been found implicating relatives in the kidnapping.
Zwane had said earlier that the boy was suspected to have been kidnapped by a male.
“The suspect is about 1.6m tall, has two piercings on his right eyebrow, a skeleton tattoo on his right arm and possibly has blue hair streaks,” he had said.
The kidnapping case has been changed to murder.
Community members were “baying for blood”, said Reddy.
Zwane appealed for calm to allow police to continue with their investigation.
Speaking to the Daily News before the discovery of his son’s body, Shaheer said his family had hidden his son’s disappearance from him until Friday morning.
“I think they were trying to protect me and spare my feelings hoping that my son would be found quickly.
“It’s now the fourth day and I have been here (Phoenix) searching since I heard,” he said.
Shaheer lives in Overport and his son used to live with Sewpujun in a different home, also in Overport. Deonarian had moved with the boy to his sister’s house in Phoenix in 2013, Sewpujun said.
He had remained close to his grandson, and said he was devastated he would never hold his grandson in his arms again.
Despite his anguish, he was grateful for the help and support the family had received.
“The support has been unreal. There must be hundreds of people who came here to take posters and hand them out, and go out and search.”
Reddy had raised a R50 000 reward for the boy’s safe return.
“If Shahiel was taken for ransom, I did not want his life endangered because his family is not able to come up with the money. I wanted to make sure nothing would put his life in jeopardy,” he said.
“This is not the end anyone wanted - not for him, not for his family. We were all hoping to find him and see him smiling with his parents.
“Who would be so cruel; who would make a young, innocent boy suffer like this?
“If it is true that there are family members involved, it is even worse because they were connected to him but instead put him through pain,” Reddy said.
Daily News