A 36-year-old patient at Elizabeth Donkin Psychiatric Hospital in Gqeberha was smashed into a wall and badly beaten, later dying in hospital, after a fight with a fellow patient.
Gradwell Jordaan had just two weeks remaining after a two-month stay at the facility before he was due to return home, reports News24.
Nurses in the ward had apparently heard a commotion and found Jordaan and a fellow patient fighting. They managed to break up the pair, and the resident doctor referred Jordaan to Livingstone Hospital because of the extent of his injuries.
He died there a few hours later.
A 21-year-old man was arrested and appeared in the Gqeberha Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, where he was ordered to see a district surgeon for a psychological evaluation.
He will appear in court again next week.
Jordaan’s sister Desire Newfeldt said the hospital told her Jordaan had allegedly slapped the accused and then gone to sit in his usual corner to read a book.
However, the other patient later allegedly rammed Jordaan into a brick wall before beating him with his fists.
Newfeldt said her brother had suffered a nervous breakdown when his father died in 2008, and that it was not his first visit to the psychiatric hospital.
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