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Robber breaks blind man's ribs
05/07/2007 09:50 - (SA)
Annelene Moses, Beeld
Johannesburg - An armed robber underestimated the fighting spirit of an ou boermeisie who put up a fierce fight when the man tried to steal her wedding ring.
Louis Burgman, 72, a chiropractioner and his wife, Jacqui, 70, were overpowered by a robber after walking into their home in Randburg on Tuesday afternoon.
"I had just put my handbag down when I heard him (her husband) scream 'Ouch!'
"He is blind and I thought he must have bumped into something. I turned around and the next moment a man with a pistol appeared in front of me," said Jacqui.
Accomplices waiting outside
Louis was hit over the head from behind. When he fell, the robber kicked him in the ribs, breaking some of them.
The couple later found out that the attacker's two accomplices were waiting in a car outside.
Jacqui was hit over the head with the pistol butt, and when she fell the robber jumped onto her. "He tried to take off my wedding ring," she said.
"After 46 years it was a battle to get it off," said her husband.
"He put my finger in his mouth and bit it. He was a smallish guy and I hit him while thinking by myself I'm hitting against a wall. I also tried to take his gun, which was really stupid," she said.
Louis heard the robber telling his wife: "I'll shoot you dead."
He put the pistol to her nose.
"My wife is a strong boeremeisie and kept fighting. I take my hat off to her."
He said as he could not see, he could not grab hold of anything to help her fight back.
The domestic worker, who was inside the house, pushed the panic button. "I think that saved us, because I knew I was not going to win the fight. The attacker, who must have realised help would turn up soon, jumped up and ran away," said Jacqui.
The robber grabbed her handbag on his way out. There was no cash inside, only two bank cards.
Jacqui said they must have known that her husband was blind, because after hitting him, they didn't spare him a second glance.
Although she didn't lose her wedding ring, from which one of diamonds had fallen out, Jacqui said she would never wear it again. "Does that mean its the end of our marriage?" her husband was able to joke.
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