Students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Pietermaritzburg campus are questioning their safety after a student was stabbed at the residence in the early hours of Friday morning.

A 20-year-old male student was stabbed and robbed of his laptop and other belongings, including clothes, at the William O’Brien residence, a male students’ res situated inside the campus.

The incident is believed to have happened at around 03:00 and it is still unclear how the criminal gained entrance into the student’s residence.

Speaking to Weekend Witness, the student said he is still traumatised by the incident.

He explained he had just finished studying and decided to go to the bathroom before going to sleep.

“The lights were off in my room because that is how I usually study. I put my laptop on and the lights off. When I came back from the bathroom I did not lock the door and I started preparing my bed. I then heard someone entering my room. I tried to shine a light on him using my cellphone flashlight, but he came straight at me and stabbed me in the back of the neck.

“I tried to push him but he overpowered me. He pushed me onto the bed and took the laptop, cellphone and clothes in the wardrobe. He also demanded the passwords for my laptop and cellphone. He then fled and locked me inside the house.”

The student added that he was assisted by other students who were coming back from the library.

“I managed to open a small gap in the door and asked for help. I do not remember a lot of things after that because I was dizzy, but I was taken to hospital and I was stitched up.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to continue staying in that room and that is why I am considering moving out and getting another room. I will never forget this incident.”

Other students have raised concerns about safety in their residence.

One student told Weekend Witness that they are puzzled as to how the alleged criminal entered the campus and the students’ residence.

“The security is currently so tight at campus, we are asking ourselves what else these criminals will be able to do if they managed to bypass security and even the police at campus. It is scary because we do not believe that this person is a student,” said the student.

“It was bad enough that we were being targeted and robbed outside campus, but the fact that we were robbed even in our residence, where we thought we are safe, makes it worse.”

A student representative council member said that they still don’t understand how the incident happened.

He added that this proved that students are not safe even when they are inside the university premises.

“This means that the security is not good enough. They [the university] need to make sure that the students are protected and safe all the time by beefing up the security,” he said.

Pietermaritzburg police spokesperson Sergeant Sifiso Gwala said a case of house robbery was opened at Alexandra Police Station and no one has been arrested yet.

This is not the first time a student has been robbed and attacked where they stay.

The Witness previously reported about how students were becoming soft targets for criminals looking to make quick cash.

Late last year a student was shot in the foot by an unknown armed man while at his residence in King Edward Avenue in Scottville.

Executive director of corporate relations at UKZN Normah Zondo said: “Security has been bolstered around the residence through the deployment of additional personnel.

“The investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident is ongoing and we do not want to speculate on these.”