CHARLENE SOMDUTH
GAGGED with toilet paper and a piece of fabric, a Phoenix mother knelt silently as an intruder penetrated her with a steak knife handle.
“When he started tearing up my clothing I knew he was going to rape me. Using hand signals I indicated to him that I was pregnant and his response was that he did not want another Indian bastard running around,” the traumatised businesswoman told POST this week.
The distraught single mother said she had lied about being pregnant in the hope her attacker would have some compassion.
He did not.
“He became frustrated and he started ripping my pants and this was when he penetrated me with the handle of the knife.”
She said the reason for her silence during the horrific ordeal at her home was to ensure her 12-year-old daughter, who was sleeping in the next room, would not be attacked.
The 38-year-old woman, who is renting an outbuilding in Palmview, said she and her daughter were receiving counselling to get over their trauma.
“My daughter and I live in fear and she has even started sleeping with a stick and knife under her pillow,” she said. “I am thankful to God my child was not hurt.”
Dragged
Recalling the incident that took place in the early hours of Easter Monday, she said that after taking a bath, she went outside to hang her washed clothes on the line. As she walked back into the house she bent down to pick up a piece of dirt, when a man dressed in brown grabbed her around her stomach, covered her mouth with his hand and dragged her into her house.
“His first words to me were that if I screamed or made a sound, he would hurt my daughter. He dragged me into my bedroom and demanded I give him my jewellery, money and cellphone. I told him I had nothing but he could take my digital camera equipment.”
The man grabbed the equipment and dragged her into her living room.
“He shoved me to the floor and again instructed me to keep silent. He left the equipment on my kitchen counter and walked to my sink where he retrieved a steak knife and toilet roll.
“When I saw the knife I was convinced he was going to kill me and I began shaking frantically.”
She said he walked slowly towards her and picked up a piece of fabric which he tore and placed on the counter.
“He instructed me to get on my knees and he shoved pieces of toilet paper in my mouth. He used the fabric to secure the toilet paper and tied my mouth.
“I began choking on the toilet paper and was afraid my noise would wake up my daughter,” she said. “Again he told me to keep silent and flung me to the floor.”
Hovering over her, the attacker began ripping her clothes with the knife, before penetrating her with it.
“I screamed in pain but my cries were muffled by the toilet paper. My attacker then took bio gel (a type of oil used for catering equipment), and rubbed it over my body and threatened to burn me alive.
“However, he was deterred by my alarm going off,” she said, adding she was uncertain who had triggered it.
Daughter
“The attacker fled and my daughter woke to find me on the floor with the knife still in me. The pain was unbearable and I was unable to move,” she said. “My daughter’s screams alerted neighbours who came to our aid and contacted paramedics and police.”
The woman, who is still shaken by the ordeal, was taken to Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital and while she is still in recovery she said she was finding peace in God and her family.
Police spokesman Colonel Jay Naicker said the incident was being investigated but no arrest had been made.