Women raped and robbed at Guest Lodge in Hazyview
Guests raped and robbed by armed criminals
Two female guests were raped and robbed at Tatenda Guest Lodge in Hazyview at 03:00 on Sunday September 6. Two armed men entered their room, one wearing a balaclava and demanded cash, laptops and cell phones. They gained access by breaking through security gates and entering through sliding doors.
The women aged 23 and 32 yrs. were on a business trip from Pretoria and were due to leave later on Sunday afternoon. The older woman was 5 months pregnant. Initially the criminals sat and chatted to the women and helped themselves to food from the fridge. The 32 yr. old was then taken to the bedroom where she begged the thug not to rape her as she was 5 months pregnant He asked her to lift her clothes show him that this was the case. She did but he held a gun to her head and raped her anyway. By then the thugs had by then had taken off his balaclava and told his victim that “We are well known in this town everyone knows who we are.
The second criminal meanwhile continued to chat to the younger women in the lounge of the guest house. It appeared that he didn’t want to take part in rape but eventually under the influence of the other robber went ahead and raped the younger woman.
The criminals took their time and spent an hour with their victims before leaving on foot. At one stage they considered stealing the hired vehicle which the woman had used for their trip, but decided against it because of a tracker device installed in the vehicle. As soon as they left the severely traumatised women activated the panic button and alerted the owners of the lodge. SAPS Hazyview and Spes-Plan responded immediately and were there within minutes of the lodge owners informing them of the incident.
The victims were taken to Matikwane hospital by the lodge owner for physical examinations. According the guest house owner the medical staff were insensitive and highly unprofessional in dealing with the situation. Although the victims were taken to the hospital at 0:500, they were only attended to at 10:30 on Sunday morning.
Airline tickets were arranged for the victims and they flew back to Johannesburg later in the morning. The police remained at the crime scene throughout the morning collecting information. The White River Dog Unit was also on the scene and collected a great deal of evidence left behind by the criminals.
