Asheek Singh
Image: Supplied
A distraught Johannesburg mother, whose son was kidnapped and murdered last year, was left traumatised after she received a threatening call from a man believed to be her son’s alleged killer, detained at Sun City Prison (Correctional Services Johannesburg).
Narisha Narcoo, 60, told the POST this week that she was still struggling to cope with her son Asheek Singh’s brutal killing, and described how she went cold and had a panic attack after she realised who the caller could be.
Singh, 33, a business analyst from Lenasia, went missing on June 14, 2025. He was driving his father Sudesh’s car and was allegedly visiting friends in Extension 9, South Fork flats, in Lenasia, at the time of his disappearance.
He was found with bruises to his body and head injuries.
Narcoo said Singh was allegedly hit repeatedly with a golf stick and died due to blunt force trauma to his head.
A 44-year-old man, who was known to Singh, was arrested a week later. He appeared in the Lenasia Magistrate's Court in July 2025, on charges of kidnapping and murder.
The man was granted bail of R10,000 in October, but he was rearrested on an attempted murder charge in April this year.
Narcoo described last Tuesday's harrowing phone call as an experience that left her with worsening post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“He said ‘Hello aunty.’ I asked who it was. He said ‘This is ***.’ I asked who is ***. He said his name and surname. I felt like I could not breathe at that moment.
“I asked why he was calling me. He said: ‘I wanted to tell you some things. Tell Asheek’s father and brothers to come. I am waiting for them. I was waiting for them when I got back. I am going to win the case and sue you because Asheek had only one mark on his head. Your son died like a dog.’
“I was shaking. Imagine speaking to your son’s (alleged) killer,” said Narcoo.
She said when Singh disappeared, the tracker on his father’s car indicated that his alleged killers drove around while her son was left to die after the beating.
Narcoo said she did not believe that one person killed her son, and she called for police to investigate and arrest the others who played roles in her son’s kidnapping and murder.
She said when her son did not call her on the first night of his disappearance, she could not sleep.
“I lit an incense stick and prayed for his safety. The next morning, Asheek was dumped at a clinic in Extension 5. His (alleged) killers left him at the clinic and drove Sudesh's car back to his house. They told Sudesh that Asheek fell out of the vehicle and injured himself, so they left him at the clinic.
“Sudesh dropped them (the accused) off at their house and rushed to the clinic where he was told that Asheek was dead on arrival. It was Father’s Day.
“A nurse called and told me that I should go to the clinic as Asheek was badly hurt. I called his father, who said Asheek had died. I fell to my knees and screamed. My child was gone.”
She said they viewed CCTV footage of Singh being “thrown into his father’s car like a bag of potatoes” after he was assaulted and unconscious.
She claimed that those were some of the memories that still haunted her and contributed to her deteriorating health.
“I am still struggling to come to terms with my beloved son’s murder, and receiving the phone call has added to my trauma. I struggle to sleep, and I cannot eat. I live in fear of the accused killer’s words. I notified the Department of Correctional Service, who acted promptly to my complaint.
“The department conducted a raid and seized a cellphone from the accused’s mobile phone. While this was prompt action, we are left questioning how cellphones are allowed in prison cells, and who is turning a blind eye to criminals doing their own things while incarcerated.”
Singabakho Nxumalo, spokesperson for the Department of Correctional Services, said when they received the complaint from Narcoo, they investigated and conducted a search in the accused’s communal prison cell.
“A search was conducted in the communal cell where the remand detainee is housed. Contraband was recovered and removed from the cell. Internal disciplinary processes are continuing. We are therefore not in a position to disclose details that may prejudice these ongoing processes.”
Nxumalo said the department treated all allegations involving the unauthorised possession or use of cellular devices and other contraband seriously, particularly where such devices may potentially be used to intimidate, threaten or cause trauma to victims and their families.
“Searches and other security measures are continuously undertaken across correctional facilities to detect and remove contraband,” he added.
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