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Brother arrives, stops rape
26/07/2007 09:19 - (SA)
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| Karen Gess, 39, tells of her nightmare experience. (Nardus Engelbrecht, Beeld) |
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Amanda Roestoff, Beeld
Johannesburg - A beautician, 39, believed it was "divine intervention" that she, her daughter, 14, and their domestic worker, 45, escaped falling victim to a West Rand serial rapist.
A suspect who was arrested shortly after the incident, will appear in the Roodepoort Regional Court on Thursday.
Karen Gess described the "amazing circumstances" that saved them on June 5.
The drama started at about 08:30 after she had left her place of work to fetch something from home.
Gess, who joined the anti-crime network eblockwatch only four days previously, said her daughter and the domestic worker were alone at home that day.
Attacker in the yard
When she rang the bell at the gate for the domestic worker to open the door, the criminal was already concealed inside the yard.
When the domestic worker opened the back door's safety clip in order to unlock the gate, he slipped in.
"When I heard her screams, I jumped over the wall, pressed the panic button on my cellphone and stormed into the house."
She was thinking only about her daughter and the domestic worker. When she entered the house, her daughter and the worker had locked themselves into a room.
"I begged with him and offered him anything inside the house - but at first he was only interested in cellphones and money."
'Please God'
He threatened Gess's daughter and domestic worker that he would kill Gess if they didn't come out.
Once they were together in the same room, he tied them up with shoelaces. While they were sitting on a bed, they kept praying out loud: "Please God, don't let him hurt us."
He locked Gess's daughter and the domestic worker into a room and then dragged Gess around in the house.
In the bedroom he pushed her onto the bed and sat down next to her.
She was sure the end was near when he put his hands on her neck and started strangling her.
He also tried to strangle her with a scarf, but she fought back, causing the shoelaces to cut deep into her skin.
He took off her pants and underclothes and got on top of her, but before he could rape her, her brother, John McLean, 44, "miraculously arrived" and shouted through her bedroom window: "Get off her! Go away!"
McLean rushed from Sandton in 12 minutes to help them after receiving the emergency SMS from eblockwatch.
Her attacker got up, stormed out of the house and escaped over the wall.
"Weeping and lame with shock" she grabbed the key to the room where the other two were still tied up and rushed to make sure they were still okay.
According to Gess she felt a lot more in charge once she had the key in her hands and was able to unlock the door.
"It's a pity my daughter had to see me half-naked. She started crying and wanted to know if he had touched me."
Gess and her daughter were so shocked that they had to take tranquillisers for three days. She still had nightmares about the incident.
She cannot sleep before making sure every door is locked and the alarm system activated.
Two suspects will appear on similar charges. Both are being held. An identity parade was held at Booysens police station on Monday. At least three women have been raped in the area between May and June.
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