By Naadiya Adams

An act of kindness ended in tragedy on Tuesday when a young man was killed in a hijacking along one of Johannesburg’s most notorious highways.

Marhoom Zaheer Bhyat, son of Farouk Bhyat and son-in-law of Moulana Dawood Cassim Jamiatul Ulama South Africa, was killed in an attempted Hijacking on Tuesday evening.

Bhyat was traveling from Lenasia to Roshnee towards R82 close to the Grasmere toll gate when he stopped to assist a car that was stuck on the side of the road. On stepping out of his vehicle an attempted hijacking and subsequent shooting resulted and Bhyat was shot in the chest.

In an interview with Radio Islam, Bhyat’s cousin Riaz Bhyat shared details of the incident.

“I don’t think he knew who was stuck on the side of the road and he stopped to help them and he got off and he was standing on the side and there was an attempted hijacking, a shootout ensued and I believe Zaheer got one of the attackers and they got to him,” explained Riaz.

Bhyat was then rushed to Lenmed hospital, but it was too late and he succumbed to his injuries.

Described as a family man, when asked of his character, the simple response was “the kids loved him”.

“He never had kids for 10 years, so he’d just play with his nephews and he loved kids and after 10 years he got two little children, the daughter is about 2, 2 and half and the son is about a year old,” said Riaz.

He also explained how many had said Bhyat was one of the best fathers they’d ever seen, he had the kind of heart that could never say no and was willing to go above and beyond for the ones he held close.

“Zaheer had a heart of gold, just the fact that he stopped to help someone on the side of the road without knowing exactly who they were… he was a wonderful person, a big-hearted person and no was not in his vocabulary, he would always be willing to do what you asked of him,” said Riaz.

The police have launched a murder investigation after being alerted of the incident by the Lenmed Hospital.

“An on-duty nurse at the intensive care unit pointed out to them [the police] an unknown Indian male. The victim resided in Roshnee and the crime scene was between Grasmere and Eikenhof the victim sustained gunshot wounds on the upper body and he was certified dead,” said the officer on duty.

Bhyat is survived by his wife and two young children.