Cape Town - Three men claim they were viciously assaulted by shopping mall security guards in Cape Town after they parked illegally in a disabled bay.
The two brothers and their cousin, from Pelican Park, say they tried to move their red Ford Sierra but were parked in.
Nine security guards then allegedly attacked them, leaving them with severe head injuries and memory loss.
Now police are investigating claims the three may be linked to the infamous “Kumar beggars”.
The “Kumars”, who claim to be holidaymakers from Durban, pretend that their car has broken down and ask unsuspecting strangers for money.
The Daily Voice is in possession of a video of the incident at Longbeach Mall in Noordhoek, which has been circulated on social media, allegedly by security guards of iMvula Security Services.
The cellphone footage of the surveillance video was recorded in the mall’s security office.
During the 57-second long video, guards can be seen swarming round two men, beating them with batons and kicking them.
All through the recording, a guard in the office can be heard laughing hysterically as he points to the men being attacked.
Rayendren, 29, and Suresh Moonsamy, 28, said the incident took place on March 7.
“We were in the area of Noordhoek because we went to buy a bakkie that we got for a good price,” explained Suresh.
“As a thank you, I stopped at Longbeach Mall to go to the liquor store to buy a bottle for my cousins.”
He said a guard told him to move the car, but he couldn’t because a white Golf had parked him in.
“The head of security came up to me and threatened me...
“I got out and we started arguing, I pushed him because he was insulting us and swearing at us, that’s when they all attacked us.”
Rayendren said the guards accused them of begging and called them the Kumars.
The brothers say a video of the assault was posted on social media and people are now making fun of them.
“People look at us, they throw comments saying ‘there go the Kumars’. They cannot classify all Indians like that,” they say.
The brothers laid a charge of assault against the guards at Fish Hoek SAPS.
However, police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut could only confirm that the brothers are the ones who have been accused of assaulting the guards.
Traut said: “According to security, several members of the public had complained that two men had been verbally abusive towards them due to them refusing to assist with money being asked for.
“The security officer had approached them and asked about the happenings and he was sworn at, threatened, and assaulted by the two males.”
iMvula spokesman Paul Kruger says they are aware of the matter, but not the video.
“What we do know is that charges of assault, crimen injuria and harassment are currently being investigated by the Fish Hoek Police [against the brothers].”
Longbeach Mall management said they were not aware of the video either, but said an investigation is under way.
Daily Voice