A FIVE-YEAR-OLD boy was forced to watch as five men tied up and sexually assaulted his mother in the latest terrifying South Africa farm attack. Warning: Graphic WARNING: Graphic
A WOMAN has been “repeatedly, violently” sexually assaulted in front of her young son by five armed attackers in the latest attack on South African farmers. The incident occurred on a family farm in Knoppieslaagte, about half an hour south of Pretoria, in the early hours of Wednesday morning last week.
At about 1am, five attackers armed with firearms and a crowbar smashed through the sliding glass door of the house, where a couple in their 60s live with their two adult children, aged in their 20s, and two primary-school age grandchildren. “This is the second attack on them in seven months,” Ian Cameron, head of community safety at civil rights group Afriforum, told local media. “They said they recognised the men from the previous attack.”
The suspects allegedly overpowered and tied up the family members in separate rooms, while the elderly woman was told to round up the money in the house. “They told the woman that they would hurt her husband if she did not comply,” Mr Cameron said.
During the ordeal, which lasted for about an hour-and-a-half, the men “repeatedly, violently” sexually assaulted the 28-year-old woman in front of her five-year-old son, according to Mr Cameron, who arrived on the scene shortly after the attack. “They didn’t rape her,” he said. “Luckily it didn’t go that far, but it is just as vile.”
He said the woman managed to free herself at about 2.20am and summon assistance from the Afriforum neighbourhood watch. Local media reports the Centurion area has seen heightened tensions due to illegal land invasions in recent weeks. “It is unclear at this stage whether the attack is related to the land invasions in the area and that the police are investigating,” Mr Cameron said. “We do encourage people to strengthen safety structures around them, including joining the local neighbourhood watch.”
Local police have been contacted for comment. Writing in The Daily Telegraph on Friday, Mr Cameron said he had just returned from the scene of another attack near Pretoria, the 97th since January 1.
Last year, 82 people were killed in a record 423 incidents, according to figures compiled by Afriforum, which says the South African government stopped publishing farm murder statistics in 2008.
Poster Comment:
Video at source.