Durban - An Estcourt family, deep in sleep at 2.30am, were jolted awake by robbers who broke into their home after poisoning their pet dog.
They then endured 90 minutes of terror, not knowing if the robbers - who ordered them to cover themselves with a duvet - would shoot them, as they had threatened.
Kishaur Dayanand and his wife Jayshiree were startled to find armed robbers in the bedroom of their Forderville home early on Friday.
“We were deep in sleep when our bedroom lights were turned on. Four men pointed guns in our faces and told us to be quiet as they came to take all our belongings,” said Dayanand, 51.
“My wife and I were in shock but we complied.”
The couple’s 15-year-old son was asleep in his bedroom.
“One of the robbers went into his bedroom and brought him back to our room at gunpoint. They told him to lie face-down on the bed.”
Dayanand, who is unemployed, said the men were all dressed in blue overalls with jackets and had gloves.
“They had no balaclavas and told us to not look at them and to cover our faces with the duvet cover.”
Dayanand said the family sat on the bed with the duvet over their heads for the next 90 minutes.
“I was fearful they were going to shoot us,” said Dayanand. “They said if we moved they would pull the trigger, so we had to sit very still and quiet.”
The robbers made off with clothing valued at R10 000, cellphones, tablets, a music system and gold jewellery.
They also stole cash from Jayshiree’s hair salon business on the premises.
Dayanand said when he heard everything was quiet he came out from under the duvet.
“My wife was scared and cautioned me against it. She whispered ‘what if they are still around?’ but I decided to go check.”
Dayanand said he found the house ransacked and the front door closed.
“They had broken the burglar bars on the lounge window and gained access through there. I ran to my neighbour’s home and they contacted the police.”
But the most heartbreaking discovery for the family was finding their dog Lassie, part of the family for over 15 years, dead in their front yard.
Lassie, a cross between a rottweiler and a boerboel, had been poisoned.
“It is traumatising that my dog had to go through that,” he said.
He said this was the first time his family had been held up. “I am just happy that we are alive, but we are finding it hard to sleep.”
He said he was keeping in close contact with police and had increased security at his home. Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane said a case of armed robbery was being investigated but no arrests had been made.
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