Durban - Hiding in her parents’ bedroom cupboard, Amelia Zill thought she was going to die. The 20-year-old from Glen Anil knew there were robbers in the house and, if they found her, they could kill her.
Frantically she dialled the security company which promised it was on its way.
But then, while she was on the phone, the cupboard door opened.
They had found her.
“They asked what I was doing on the phone. I was terrified but I remained calm. Whatever they asked for, I showed them where it was so they would not hurt me,” she said.
The four armed men had forced open the front gate of the Zill family’s home in The Curl on Saturday evening.
Amelia had heard the intercom bell ring but when she peeped out the window she saw a car she did not recognise, so she did not respond.
Her mother, Veshnee, father, Anthony, and younger sister, Kerry, were all out.
“I never answer the intercom when I am alone because I don’t want anyone knowing that I am alone. When they rang again, I decided to call my mom and lock up the house.”
But then she remembered she had forgotten to lock one door downstairs.
“That is when I realised they had forced their way in,” she said.
She hid, and made the call. The security company was en route and arrived as the robbers were making their getaway.
The intruders opened fire and a neighbour was hit in the shoulder.
Zill said she had not had any sleep since the robbery because it kept replaying in her mind.
“I am very jumpy, even when the intercom bell rings. All I think about is that incident,” said the student teacher, who is doing her practical at Crawford College La Lucia.
Her mother said they were all still in shock.
“We have lived here for 15 years and we have never been robbed before. We have always felt safe and even when my husband and I were out, we would leave the kids alone and come home at any time, but now we are very wary.
“We don’t want to be home alone when my husband is not there,” she said.
Blue Security operations manager, Brian Jackson, said various items including a television, jewellery, cash, cellphones, laptops and a safe containing identity documents had been stolen.
Provincial police spokesman, Major Thulani Zwane, said a case of house robbery and attempted murder was being investigated by Greenwood Park police.
No arrests had been made, he said.
Daily News