At 5pm on Friday afternoon, Rean Ramdin told his parents he was going on a date to the ice-cream parlour.
Just 24 hours later, the 29-year-old’s body was lying at the Springs mortuary.
It is alleged he was shot in the back trying to escape from police custody after he was arrested for drug possession at a Boksburg nightclub.
But his family want to know why police never contacted them about his death or the circumstances around it.
His sister, Melody Perumal, said she believed foul play was involved in his death.
Ramdin had come out of rehab for drug addiction a week ago.
“He had a big circle of friends that he socialised with. He tried to change some of his behaviour,” she said.
Perumal’s husband Jainine said Ramdin had told his parents he was going to a Milky Lane with a woman he had met in rehab.
His father, Roy, gave him R150 and the keys to their blue Opel Corsa bakkie.
Around 2pm, Roy heard the dogs barking. When he looked out of the window and saw the bakkie parked, he assumed his son was asleep.
It was only on Saturday around 9.30am, after he got a call from a relative in Durban asking about his son’s whereabouts, that he discovered his son was not home.
The family believe Ramdin met up with his cousins at the Presley’s nightclub on Northrand Road in Boksburg.
His cousins wanted to go to another venue, but Ramdin did not. He gave his house and car keys to his cousins, but stayed at the venue.
When his cousin returned to the venue around 2am, they were told they could not go in as there was a police raid.
“Rakesh tried to call Rean, but his phone just rang and rang. He got worried,” said Jainine.
The next morning, he called his mother in Durban, who contacted another family, who then contacted Roy.
When the family realised Ramdin was not in his bed, they started searching for him, calling police stations, friends, hospitals and later the mortuary in Germiston.
It was at the mortuary that they learnt of a shooting outside Presley’s. But there were no details of who had been involved.
“He was wearing a green tracksuit jacket and had blood clots on his knuckles. We could not see a bullet wound,” Melody said. She added that a post-mortem would be conducted on Monday.
“No police have come to our house to report an incident,” she said.
His sister eventually got hold of a colonel, who said he had been called to the scene.
“According to the colonel, there was an incident at Presley’s. My brother was arrested for drug possession.
“He was handcuffed and put into a police car, and at the corner of Rietfontein and Rondebult streets, at a stop street, he escaped,” Melody said.
The colonel told Melody that two warning shots were fired, but her brother continued to run. He was then shot by one of the officers.
She was told that a case of murder was being probed by the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) and that the gun had been confiscated from the officer involved.
Presley’s club owner Chris da Silva confirmed that a man had been arrested for being in possession of drugs on Friday.
icd spokesman Moses Dlamini said initial reports confirmed that Ramdin had been handcuffed when he was shot dead.
*Rules on deadly force
The use of deadly force by the police is controlled by section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
According to the act, police can shoot:
* To kill only if their life or those of others are in danger.
* If a crime is in progress and there is no other way of stopping its progression.
* If someone who is escaping arrest is likely to seriously harm others. - The Star