'She was in a terrible state'
2007-11-20 08:44
Delmas - A deaf mute mother of two young children was overpowered at her workplace on Saturday afternoon, kidnapped in her own car and raped in a squatter hut in Botleng.
This followed after her attackers drove around with her for hours.
She was eventually saved late that evening by the police, a commando, members of the community and relatives.
Six suspects were being held late on Monday, and one of them has already been charged. The rest are being held for questioning and one suspect was still at large.
The 34-year-old woman was overpowered in her car at the abattoir outside the town at about 16:30 on Saturday. She was allegedly lured by a colleague who sent her an SMS informing her about problems at work.
Everyone started looking for her
According to a family member the woman left a staff Christmas party near a farm dam close to the abattoir to fetch warm clothes for her children from their home on a smallholding near Eloff when she received the SMS.
When she failed to return to the party after several hours, the family started looking for her. The aid of the commando, police and members of the community was called in and everybody searched for hours.
"The tracking device in her old VW Golf indicated that the car was moving in many directions. We just couldn't find it and travelled back and forth. At about 22:00 myself and two other family members went to Botleng on the spur of the moment. We found her car behind a squatter hut in extension 4."
The rest of the search party was called to the scene and police surrounded the hut before storming it. "Inside there were four men and three women. The women were naked and the men semi-naked or naked. We found my cousin on a bed in the bedroom. She was crying hysterically and she was naked. She tried to cover herself with her hands and legs.
"She was in a terrible state. Her body was covered in blue bruises. Her mother helped her to get dressed. She was suffering so much pain that she could not walk to the car, but had to be carried. She was taken to N17 Hospital in Springs, where she was treated and discharged on Sunday."
She later told the police with the help of a pastor at the deaf mute congregation in Pretoria how she was overpowered, pulled from her car and forced into the back seat, while a third man took the wheel and started driving.
She told how she was held by two men while a third raped her.
Everybody found inside the hut was arrested. Three of the men were shortly afterwards released by a female police captain at the police station. One man was charged. Two of those who had been released, were rearrested on Monday. The women were still being held for questioning. The police were hot on the heels of another suspect on Monday afternoon.
The woman is already using antiretrovirals.
According to her family she was living in fear of the attacker who was still at large.