A teenager from Atlasville was stabbed to death in Windermere Drive on Thursday while she was waiting in a parked car outside her boyfriend’s place of work. It has come to light that another young woman was also stabbed, just around the corner in Main Road, the day before. She survived the ordeal.

Amanda Lightfoot’s  life was cut short days before her 19th birthday on April 17, after she was stabbed to death in what is suspected to have been an opportunistic crime just after 13:00.

A second victim has come forward. Lishanta Rajagopal (22) says she left work early on April 13 to attend a doctor’s appointment, when she was attacked by an unknown man with a knife, just after 13:00.

She sustained multiple injuries to the left side of her face, including a stab wound to the head. According to Rajagopal, when she got into her car, parked in the street in front of her workplace, an assailant suddenly opened the door and started hitting her in the face with the back of a knife.

“I tried to fight him off and was screaming. As I got out of the car, my cellphone fell to the ground,” she says.

“A colleague must have heard the commotion and came to the gate screaming. The attacker picked up my phone and started walking away. It was only then that I saw the knife on the ground and realised that I had been stabbed.”

Rajagopal was rushed to Life The Glynnwood Hospital for treatment and received five staples each to her head, ear and nose.

Her mother, Premi, says her daughter was very brave in her attempt to fight off the assailant and is grateful that her child is safe. Her heart aches for Amanda’s family who cannot say the same.

“We are in complete shock that something like this could have happened in broad daylight in an area that is considered safe. It is unthinkable that two similar incidents occurred in the same area within 24 hours,” she says.

She says because of her injuries, Rajagopal has lost some hearing in her left ear, but specialists have indicated it should gradually return.

An anonymous source has told the Benoni City Times they saw a suspicious man loitering under a tree on the island near where the incident occurred. According to the information, he had an afro and was wearing a grey jacket, yellow T-shirt and faded grey jeans.

This matches Rajagopal’s description of her attacker.

At the time of publication, Rajagopal’s statement had not yet been taken.

She explained that on the day of the incident, officers of the Benoni Police Station could not access her in hospital and did not come to their home later that day as promised.

According to Captain Nomsa Sekele, spokesperson for the Benoni SAPS, officers have since been dispatched to the victim to take a statement and open a case.

Investigations into both matters are continuing.

Anyone with information about these incidents should contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or use the MySAPS app. Information can be given anonymously.