Women shoppers robbed, raped

2003-10-16 16:36

Bethlehem - A Mosotho woman was raped and another was shot after four men held up their taxi near Harrismith around midnight on Wednesday, police reported on Thursday.

Constable Christopher Mophiring said the two women were with a large party of women from different villages in Lesotho who were returning from Durban after a shopping expedition.

The majority were travelling by bus hired at the Ficksburg border gate and a smaller number followed later in a taxi hired at the Fouriesburg border gate.

On the Bergville-Harrismith road about 10km from Harrismith, a silver Honda Ballade drove alongside the bus and shots were fired. The bus was hit three times but no-one was injured. The car then sped away.

Mophiring said a short while later the same Honda Ballade with four heavily armed men aboard arrived alongside the taxi and forced it off the road.

One woman was raped and another was shot and wounded when she tried to run. She was taken to the Harrismith Provincial Hospital in a stable condition.

All the passengers were robbed of their shopping which included jewellery, radios, cellphones and an undisclosed amount of cash before the gang drove away.

The Honda Ballade was later found abandoned in Newcastle from where it had earlier been reported stolen.

Mophiring said no arrests were made but police were investigating charges of armed robbery, attempted murder and rape.

- SAPA