‘Taunted’ teen in train tragedy
TEASED for his cleft lip and terrorised by a robber who stole his school shoes, 15-yearold Mickaylin Ramsamy nevertheless tried to make the best of his young life.
But it was cut short in the most tragic of ways last Thursday when the Verulam lad was hit by a train on his way to school.
While his family believe he died trying to run away from more robbers, others say he might have taken his own life because of the ugly things he was forced to endure.
The Grade 8 Temple Valley Secondary School pupil sustained severe injuries to the back of his head and died.
The train did not stop, the driver apparently unaware of the tragedy.
“I can’t stop thinking about what he went through in those last moments,” said Mickaylin’s grieving mother Chantal Govender, 33.
Her son, who had dreams of studying in New Zealand once he matriculated, had lived with his grandparents after his mom remarried.
“I was unable to get him enrolled at a school nearby so he opted to attend Temple Valley Secondary which is a walking distance of half an hour from our home,” said his grandmother, Radha Chinna, 50.
A week before his death Mickaylin was attacked by a robber under a bridge while on his way home from school, she said.
“A man jumped out of the bushes and wrapped Mickaylin’s head in a blanket and demanded he give him his school shoes. The man told Mickaylin that he would kill him if he did not do as he was told.
“Fearful for his safety, Mickaylin gave in to the man’s demands and the robber let him go.”
When he arrived home, said Chinna, he was shaken up and very scared.
“He told me what had happened and I told him not to worry and that everything would be okay. But he did not want to go to school. He stayed at home last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I was upset with him because he was missing out on school work and I told him that he had to go back to school despite what happened.”
On Thursday, he left for school, but used a different route.
“He just said ‘Bye Radha ma’ and within the next hour I received a call from Chantal informing me that a woman had called her saying Mickaylin was hit by a train and was in a critical condition on the railway tracks,” she said.
“I became frantic and could not handle the news. I was just praying that he would be okay. I notified Mickaylin’s uncle as to what had happened and he rushed to the scene, but before he got their my grandson had died.”
Chinna believes he might have been chased by a robber, “because there are many drug addicts that lurk around the train station.
“His body was found with just one shoe with the other still missing. The straps from his bag had been snapped, almost like someone was trying to pull the bag off his shoulders,” she said.
Govender, who has two other children from her second marriage, described her son as obedient and respectful.
“He loved cars, especially Ferraris. Although he never spoke of what career he wanted to pursue he had dreams of relocating to New Zealand to live with our relatives so he could study,” she said.
Temple Valley principal Lozey Mathe, however, believes Mickaylin was a troubled child who had “emotional issues”.
Mathe said that from her records at school Mickaylin had many challenges, including being bullied by pupils for having a cleft lip.
“His grandmother had to be called to the school on numerous occasions because he was always bunking classes and one of the reasons he bunked was because of the mocking.”
Mathe said she had advised his mother to take him to a social worker.
However, Chinna dismissed claims of a suicide as “false rumours” doing the rounds in the community.
“This was untrue and hearing these rumours has caused more pain to our family,” she said. “We have tried to give Mickaylin a good and stable home. We need closure.
“He was our baby, the life of our family. If anyone can give us a clue as to what had transpired on the day it will give us some relief.”
Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said an inquest docket had been opened at the Verulam police station.