Mentally-ill man beaten, ear bitten off during attempted robbery

Thirty-four-year-old Earl Emmanuel, a mentally-ill resident of Kuru Kuru Housing Scheme on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, is nursing a series of injuries he sustained after being beaten and having one of his ears bitten off by a man who attempted to rob his home.

In an interview on Wednesday with the victim’s niece, Tracy Emmanuel, she explained that her uncle, who has been mentally ill since childhood, was left alone at home while his father ran an errand on Monday at approximately 19:30h. Tracy Emmanuel said that, based on what her grandfather told her, when he returned home, he encountered a known menace in the community inside the house.
“He said before he entered the house he heard screams coming from the area, but when he got closer, he realized that they were coming from his house. He said when he went inside, he saw the man… When the man ran out, he went to see my uncle lying on the bed in a pool of blood.” Immediately, the family alerted other persons, and Earl was taken to the hospital for medical treatment.
She said they then went to the Kuru Kuru Police station to file a report, but they were told that the Police did not have a vehicle to look for the suspect. “The Police wrote up a report and sent them to Diamond Hospital, but never followed up”, she said.
Tracy said her aunt went back to the station to find out about the investigation, and it was only after her visit that the Police went to look for the suspect, and arrested him at his home.
“My uncle can’t eat or do anything. He had to get 10 stitches in his head. When we went to the station, the man admitted to beating up my uncle and biting off his ear. We thought he had cut off his ear, and he had to chop my uncle in his head.” (G9)