Pietermaritzburg - An 87-year-old woman was assaulted, suffocated and almost raped during a robbery at her home in Scottsville, allegedly by a gardener she had hired.
In the horrific house robbery ordeal — lasting an hour — the elderly woman who lives alone was held up by a man armed with a panga on Wednesday at around 8am.
According to a police source who is not authorised to speak to the media, the assailant gained entry into the property using the back door.
The woman had allegedly left the back door open to let her dog out.
“A man that is alleged to be her gardener came into the house while she was in the toilet. He pushed the bathroom door open and then threw her down on the floor.”
The police source said the attacker then violently pushed the woman’s head between the toilet and wash basin. She was quite badly hurt.
“He then proceeded to try and remove her underwear and she resisted. He beat her up and tried to suffocate her with a hat that he was wearing. He also threatened to kill her if she didn’t co-operate,” said the source.
Scuffle
During the scuffle, the assailant allegedly overpowered the woman and dragged her into a bedroom.
“He repeatedly attempted to rape her. After an hour of struggling, he was unsuccessful and locked her into the bedroom and fled the scene.”
Apparently the woman began screaming through the window for help and a group of men who were installing air conditioners at a student’s residence across the road came to see what was going on and alerted the police.
The attacker allegedly fled towards Durban Road with the woman’s cellphone, a set of house keys and the remote for the gate.
The police source said it seemed the attacker was sleeping on the woman’s property without her knowledge.
When The Witness visited the property on Wednesday, a woman who said she was the victim’s daughter confirmed the incident. She said her mother was taken to hospital for a check-up.
Pietermaritzburg police spokesperson Sergeant Mthokozisi Ngobese said a charge of sexual assault and house robbery has been opened.
No arrests have yet been made.
