A 23-year-old who claims that she was kidnapped, kept captive for 15 days and repeatedly raped, insists that she was not alone, but was with at least 10 other women in a caravan somewhere in rural Zululand.
Yesterday the Sunday Tribune tracked down the KwaMagwaza woman who was rescued in the mystery case that has caught the attention of the KwaZulu-Natal public.
A massive police manhunt is under way to find the other victims, said police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent Mdunge. Oddly, he says, no other women have been reported missing.
Mdunge said that the police were working hard to crack the case. He said community and family members of the alleged victims were encouraged to come forward and report missing people so they could narrow down the search.
“We are looking for 10 allegedly missing girls and that makes it very difficult for us.”
Mdunge confirmed police were “taking this case seriously”.
“It is highly sensitive and we will treat the case with the due respect,” he said.
He also believed the abductors were foreigners, as the victim had indicated.
The trauma of being kidnapped and raped was clearly etched on the face of the 23-year-old victim yesterday as she described – in whispers only – her ordeal.
Her first concern, she said, was for the other women kept captive with her.
“I want them to be found. I want them to also go home,” the mother of a five-year-old son said.
The woman was allegedly kidnapped from Eshowe when she was returning home to Inkandla after shopping.
The decision to get into a taxi was, she said, one that she would always regret.
She said she had called her brother as she got into the taxi, at 7pm on September 12, to let him know that she was on her way home.
“I told him to meet me halfway as it is a long walk from where the taxi drops you off. As the taxi was driving past Eshowe Hospital, another woman stopped us and got in.
“The taxi then turned into sugar cane fields. I remember seeing the Ntumeni sign. When we asked where we were going, they took our cellphones and threw our SIM cards at us.”
She remembers a black car behind the taxi and being told they weren’t going home.
She said they were raped in the cane fields by four men as the taxi drove off.
“We were first kept in a mud house with no window. It was a standalone and very dark. Then we were moved to the caravan. One of the girl’s families paid the full ransom because she never came back after she went to withdraw the money. She was from Empangeni.”
She said they were tied to chairs and Sellotape was placed over their mouths.
“We couldn’t speak. Our hands were tied to the chair handles and rope was tied tightly across our chests. A woman who grabbed a gun when we were being fed was shot by the kidnappers. They told her she thought she was clever before they shot her.
“We were fed samp every now and then.”
She was rescued on Wednesday this week, 15 days after she was kidnapped.
The kidnappers had contacted her elder sister, demanding R5 000 in ransom. Only R300 was deposited, which angered the men.
“The four men took me to the post office in Pinetown to collect the money. When I only had R300, they mocked me, asking if my family was crazy. They bought a loaf of brown bread and hit me with it, laughing.”
Her sister then deposited a further R2 000 this week and she was released.
“On Tuesday (this week) the men went to withdraw the money my sister deposited, but couldn’t. Six more women were brought to the caravan with us. The next day they decided that I must go with them to the post office to withdraw the money. I was blindfolded with a black cloth whenever we left, so I never knew where we were going or even where we were being kept. From page1
“It was only removed when we got to the post office. When we got there, one of the guys went inside. After a while, he came and told me to go in, check how much money was in the account and withdraw it. But when I went inside, the teller said the card didn’t work and I couldn’t withdraw the money,” she said.
“The teller said my account was closed. After a while, a man asked me to come to the back, where their offices were. A white man, who I think was the manager, was in an office and asked me what was happening. That is when I told him everything.
“He called the police. By the time they arrived at the post office, the men waiting outside in the car had gone. I was taken to the Pinetown police station. After being questioned, the Eshowe police took me home.”
The woman said she had not tried to escape because she had never been to the area where the post office was and the men were always waiting outside in the car.
Although she was taken to a hospital to have HIV and pregnancy tests done, she said she had not been counselled.
Her mother said she had thought of her every day that she was missing.
“At first I was worried if she was eating and safe. Eventually, I thought my child was dead and I would never see her again.
“But the girl who has returned is not the same.
“She was full of life. Now she sits around and hardly speaks. She only started speaking again recently, telling us a bit about what happened to her.”
She said her daughter was a “real rural girl” who stayed at home and did not get up to mischief.
“She has never disappeared, not even for a day. She never caused trouble. We were traumatised by this. The family will never be the same.
“We are all still recovering and all need counselling.
“She has not been the same since she got back.”
Defending her daughter against claims that the whole affair was an elaborate hoax, she said angrily: “To all those who might think she is lying, she is not.
“I believe her. The marks on her wrists prove it, and she complains about spine and back pain from being tied to a chair for days.
“Why would she lie? Those who don’t believe can come and see for themselves. We always see and hear about these things on TV, [but] we never thought it would happen to us.”
Her father, who works in Durban, returned home yesterday.
Members of her community described her as a good woman who never got into trouble.
Mzamo Ngobese said: “I have never heard anyone say anything bad about her. She has a good reputation. We have never heard of such a thing happening. We have lived in this area for years.”
Mkhotheni Ngobese said people in the area were shocked and saddened by what had allegedly happened.
Inkandla police said a missing person’s reported had not been filed on behalf of the woman.- Sunday Tribune