Pretoria - The angry family of a 47-year-old woman who was allegedly kidnapped and raped in Hammanskraal has blamed the police for failing to act in time.
The woman was reportedly kidnapped after she left her son’s business premises in the township last Wednesday. She was offered a lift by a young man who claimed to be driving in the direction she was travelling in.
However, he opted to take a different route which led to a nearby bush where he tied her up and instructed her to call her children so he could solicit money from them.
“The guy called me and told me that he had my mother and wanted money for her safe return,” said the woman’s son, whose name has been withheld to protect her identity.
“We then decided to go to the police station and open a case of kidnapping but we did not get any help. We asked the police to trace the phone number the man was using, but they didn’t have a unit dedicated to such crimes and told us to return the next day,” he said.
He said they had to place their lives in danger by negotiating a ransom to the amount of R4 000 with the abductor. “We didn’t know what the situation would be when we went to drop off the money and fetch her. We didn’t know if we would be ambushed or not. This was not our duty to assume because we are not police; it’s not our job,” he said.
The man explained they had to drop off the money at a location decided upon by the abductor for the exchange of his mother.
“He asked me how much I had and I told him R4 000. He told me to meet him at a petrol station, which I did,” he said.
He met the abductor who was travelling with her mother. “I gave him the money and he freed my mother. My uncle and I tried to chase after his car when we were certain that my mother was safe, but couldn’t catch up with him.”
Police spokeswoman Captain Sarah Lesabane rejected claims that they did not act when the case was opened, but said family members were not co-operative.
“We can confirm that a case of kidnapping and rape was opened and we are investigating. But we tried to help the complainants as best we could.
“However, they were throwing tantrums at the station, which made it difficult to ascertain their grievance,” said Lesabane.
Investigations were under way.
Pretoria News