Parents learn of son's murder after vehicle tracking SMS alert

His friend' claimed he had shot dead the well-known footballer in self-defence

- YOSHINI PERUMAL

A CHATSWORTH family are desperately seeking answers after their son was allegedly shot dead by a friend who claimed self-defence.

The grieving parents only discovered their son's fate through a vehicle tracking company alert, with police providing minimal information about the circumstances of the murder.

Dalen Gounden, 23, of Montford, was allegedly killed during an argument with his friend while they were travelling along the R102, near Illovo Beach.

Dalen's aunt, Nancy Moonsamy, said he had left home on Friday afternoon to meet friends at a nearby soccer field and failed to return home.

She said in the early hours of Saturday, his father, Nagentheran Gounden, received an SMS from the vehicle tracking company.

"It was only at this point that they realised something was wrong. His father then called the tracking company," said Moonsamy.

"They told him that the battery in his son's car had been disconnected, and that they had lost the signal on the vehicle's tracking device."

She said Gounden was told that Dalen's vehicle was last located at the Amanzimtoti police station.

He and his wife made their way there.

At the police station, the couple were shown their son's driver's licence.