Violent culture among youth must stop: grieving dad
A BLOW to the head with a baseball bat has ended the life of a young call centre worker who had bravely tried to stop a fight involving his friends.
Doran Naidoo, 20, was at a family gathering in Phoenix on Friday night when tragedy struck.
The Longcroft man fell to the ground after he was hit.
He was taken to hospital where he later died.
His 20-year-old friend had been charged with murder.
Selvan Naidoo said Doran, his son, was with friends at a home in Pinecroft Place when an argument broke out among some of the youngsters.
“The argument escalated into a fight and my son tried to separate the boys,” Naidoo said.
“But, somehow during the fracas Doran was hit on the head with a baseball bat. He fell to the ground and was unresponsive.”
Naidoo said the friends took him to a clinic in Unit 10.
“His condition was assessed and he was transferred to Addington Hospital,” he said.
“I received a call from the hospital just before 12am telling me my son was admitted due to a head injury. I was in total shock. I arrived at the hospital half an hour later to find him hooked on a ventilator.”
Fighting back tears Naidoo, 44, who is self-employed, said seeing his son in that condition was the worst experience of his life.
“Doran was my only child. To see him laying on that hospital bed unable to move or speak was too much for me to bear.
Hope
“I sat by his side, telling him everything was going to be okay, in the hope that he might open his eyes and smile at me but nothing worked.
“His injury was very severe and he died on Saturday afternoon.”
Describing his son as humble, loving and bubbly, Naidoo said Doran, who lived with his mother, Thivashni, would have turned 21 in August.
“He was not violent and was not a fighter, but he loved his friends and loved being around them.
“So I can understand why he tried to stop the fight. But his good intentions have robbed me and his mother of our only child,” Naidoo said.
“Our family is suffering because Doran is no more and another family is torn as their son is facing murder charges and possibly jail time.
“I want justice for my son’s death, but his murder must be a wake-up call for young men who cannot control their tempers and resort to violence in order to prove their points. This violent culture among our youth must stop,” Naidoo said
Dorian was cremated on Tuesday.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane said a case of murder was being investigated.
In June last year, Avoca man Philendren Naidoo, 35, was allegedly stabbed with a steak knife during an altercation at a braai with friends.
His friend, Neresan Govender, was charged with murder and has pleaded not guilty.