Hijackers' frenzy claims 3

2003-08-01 11:32

Pretoria - The bodies of two women and a toddler, hijacked in Sunnyside, Pretoria, on Thursday night, were discovered at different spots in northern Pretoria and the North West on Friday, police reported.

At least one of the women had been raped before she was shot, said police spokesperson Captain Piletji Sebola.

A teenager abducted by the same hijackers, also raped and shot, was found in a North West hospital.

Sebola said a 24-year-old woman, her daughter, about a year old, and her fiance's mother, in her late 40's or early 50's, were hijacked in Sunnyside about 19:00 on Thursday.

While they were being driven around by the hijackers, the younger woman managed to send two SMS messages on her cellphone to her fiance, asking him to contact the police.

He reported the matter to the Sunnyside police station.

On Friday morning, the bodies of the 24-year-old woman and her daughter were found with gunshot wounds in an open veld in Stinkwater, near Temba in the North West.

It appeared at first glance that the woman had been shot in the leg and her child in the back, Sebola said.

While investigating the scene, police received information that a teenager had been admitted to hospital with a gunshot wound to the head.

It appeared the girl was kidnapped by the same group about 21:00 on Thursday, while walking with a male friend in Temba.

She was taken with the 24-year-old woman and child to the open veld. The teenager and the women were apparently raped before being shot.

Her assailants apparently believed the girl to have been dead, Sebola said. In fact, the bullet had grazed her head. She managed to walk to the Stinkwater village, where people helped her get to a hospital.

Sebola said police at the murder scene then received information of another woman's body having been found in the Pretoria North area.

It was the body of the fiance's mother. She was found in an open space at a junction near Soutpan and Hebron roads, with a bullet wound to the head.

It appeared the robbers killed her and dumped her body before picking up the teenager, Sebola said. It was not known if she had been raped as well.

The hijacked car was found overturned in Stinkwater.

Sebola said police have been talking to the teenager in hospital.

The case would be jointly investigated by the North West and Pretoria serious and violent crimes units.

The identities of the victims could not be made known yet, Sebola said.

- SAPA