An invaded house, with missing electrical appliances, furnishings, clothing and a stolen Audi S5.
This is what a Bedfordview couple returned home to after they went shopping on Saturday, May 3.
Bedfordview residents Mr Yusuf and Mrs Hasina Rahim, who live in Healy Road, were victims of a burglary which saw them robbed of several of their possessions.
“My wife and I were out shopping and when we arrived home in the evening, we found our front gate forced open, the front door forced and broken open, the house raided and my car, which was parked in the carport, missing,” said Mr Rahim.
“We want the surrounding residents to be aware of what has happened. We are concerned that something like this can happen to anyone. It could have been worse, with someone killed or injured,” said Mr Rahim.
Mr Rahim described his home as one with sufficient safety and security, but he was stunned the perpetrators still managed to invaded his home in the way they did.
“There is security at my home, which is why it is frightening that the robbers still somehow managed to find a way to break in,” said Mr Rahim.
“The week of the burglary, we had three incidences of load shedding at night, with one of the schedules spanning six hours. Our gate motor battery is not equipped to last that long, so when I had issues with the gate closing before we left on the day of the buglary, I thought it was an issue with our gate, and not that someone was jamming its signal,” he said.
According Mr Rahim, one of his neighbours said they had seen a white van outside their home on the day of the burglary.
“Because investigations are still continuing, I still have a number of unanswered questions. My assumption is that the burglary was done within two hours. The thieves jammed the gate, preventing it from closing fully after we left the premises. The men proceeded to break the front door open, looted our home and loaded our possessions into a van. Before leaving, the robbers broke my gate motor, switched it to manual, opened my gate then started my vehicle in the parking lot and fled with the van containing our valuables,” said Mr Rahim.
“Another neighbour in the area arrived home at about 4pm. He noticed that our gate was open but did he not think anything of it because he thought we were leaving,” said Mr Rahim.
“This burglary has been a big knock for us. All the electronics in the house were stolen, including stereo systems, DVD players, the television set and clothes. Even more concerning is that our house was invaded and nothing can stop these people from returning,” Mr Rahim added.
“The more we make people aware of house robberies, the more people will be able to track suspicious behaviour. We hope the community can act on this. If the Bedfordview community were to be more vigilant, it would be one step towards crime prevention,” said Mr Rahim. @BedfordJourno
