Johannesburg - The Muldersdrift community is again on high alert after a woman was raped by two men during a robbery and another was scalded with boiling water.
While residents live in fear, spokesman for the provincial police Brigadier Neville Malila said Muldersdrift had been quiet this year compared to last year, when there were many attacks, and that some of the people who carried out those attacks are in custody.
Last Tuesday morning, Janine Viljoen was woken up and dragged out of bed by armed men who tied her hands behind her back. Viljoen, 46, was beaten with a gun, slapped and punched throughout her ordeal.
Her attackers wanted money and a gun. When she said she did not have any, they beat her more and threatened to rape and kill her.
“I said ‘if you want sex that’s fine, as long as you use a condom’. When they realised that being raped was not what scared me the most, they hit me on the forehead with a gun. They also threatened to burn me with an iron.
“One boiled the kettle and threw the water at me,” she said.
Four days later, in the early hours of Saturday, Angela Cohee and her boyfriend were on the patio when three men appeared, pointing guns at them. They were taken inside the house, where their hands were tied behind their backs.
All Cohee could think throughout the ordeal was: “Don’t shoot me, don’t shoot my partner”.
The men went from room to room looking for items to steal.
When they saw a digital camera box, they wanted the camera, but Cohee didn’t know where it was as she and her partner had arrived at the house only a few hours earlier to house-sit for a friend. But the robbers thought she was lying and raped her.
“One of the guys took my shoes and jeans off. He asked whether I had Aids. I did not reply because I was scared he would shoot me. When I said I did not have a condom, he said he did not care and raped me.
“The second guy raped me too. Afterwards they took me to the main bedroom, put me on the bed and tied my feet up. I was scared they would rape me again,” Cohee said, crying.
Cohee gave The Star permission to name her.
Malila confirmed that the attacks were reported and that police were investigating.
“Sector policing and visibility in the area are still maintained and we appeal to the community to come forward with information,” he said.
The Star