Teen 'mute' after shock attack
2008-10-29 08:19
Fanie van Rooyen
Pretoria - On Tuesday morning a family were assaulted and a 16-year-old girl is thought to have been raped during the umpteenth robbery in the Kameeldrift area north-east of Pretoria.
Police spokesperson Johannes Jaftha said the attack happened on Tuesday morning at about 04:00 on a smallholding in Boekenhoutskloof, Kameeldrift.
"Four armed men entered the house, tied up the family of five with shoelaces in the main bedroom and fled in the family vehicle, taking cellphones, computers and laptops," he said.
Tied up with shoelaces
He said the robbers had apparently raped a 16-year-old girl in another room while the family lay tied up in the main bedroom.
The girl's grandfather, a 66-year-old man who lived in a separate house on the smallholding, said it wasn't clear if his granddaughter had indeed been raped.
"She's still in hospital in the city where she is being examined and receiving counselling," he said.
"She's still struggling to talk.
"It's all very traumatic for all of us."
He said they suspect the robbers had unscrewed the burglar bars on one of the dining room windows.
Once the robbers left the house, the family's six-year-old daughter, the only one they didn't tie up, fetched a pair of scissors and cut the family loose.
He said it was the third time the family had fallen victim to robbers.
"On two previous occasions, robbers broke into the house and loaded up my son-in-law's bakkie with stolen goods. But every time they had to flee without the loot."
- Beeld