Cellphone tiff turns deadly

IS A CELLPHONE worth more than a human life? This question still brings tears to Sheridan Pillay’s (pictured) family after the 31-year-old Greenwood Park resident was stabbed to death after an argument, allegedly over a cellphone.

His body was found at the nearby Thandanani informal settlement.

A man, 40, was arrested and charged with murder. He appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court and was remanded into custody until his next appearance this week.

Pillay, who was self-employed, was sitting at a shop in Greenwood Park on Tuesday night when he got into an argument, allegedly with the man.

Pillay’s brother Terence said the police had told the family that when the argument had become heated, his brother left and headed for the informal settlement to seek refuge. But his assailant hunted him down and allegedly stabbed him several times in the hands and legs.

“Residents contacted the police and the paramedics for help but my brother died at the scene.” Police arrived at Terrence’s home that morning, telling him to go to the station. There was no explanation.. “I was told I needed to go to the Phoenix mortuary to identify my brother’s body. I was caught off guard. I was speechless.

“When the police told me what led to his death, I was beside myself. How do you kill someone over a cellphone?”

He said he had struggled to break the news to his mother and sisters and his sibling’s 5-year-old twin sons. Pillay was divorced.

Terence said the accused should not be allowed to get away with murder.