Hostage hell for Ladysmith family

A family in Camphor Road had to endure a terrifying ordeal at the hands of vicious robbers in the early hours of Friday morning.
Rabia Rajmun, her adult son, daughter-in-law (the son’s wife) and four-year-old grandson were in the house at the time of the robbery. The nightmare began when Rabia’s daughter-in-law woke up at about 1am and went to have a drink of water, only to find that the front door of the house was wide open. She screamed when she saw a man standing in the kitchen. The scream woke Rabia, and she immediately ran to the window to alert the neighbours that something was wrong.

She shouted three times for help, but with no response. As Rabia was at the window screaming for help, she was hit on the head with the butt of a gun. The robber who pistol-whipped her then went into the room where her son and daughter-in-law sleep. By this time, the son had armed himself with a fishing gaff (hook) and tried to fend off the robbers. However, it was little help, as he was kicked in the head and fell to the ground. At this stage, the robber was joined by another man. The daughter-in-law then picked up the gaff in a futile attempt to get the two vicious thugs out of the house. She was also hit on the back of the head with the butt of a gun.

She recalls that she suddenly felt hot and dizzy, and fell on the bed,  blood dripping down the side of her face. In Rabia’s room, one of the robbers demanded money and cell-phones while continuously kicking her and hitting her on the back. The callous criminal pulled out one of the sliding cupboards and hit her on the head with that, as well as beating her with a bedside cupboard. The desperate woman gave him her phone in the hope that he would stop beating her. This seemed to work as he left the room, only to go into the other room and continue the assault on the daughter-in-law.

The daughter-in-law covered herself and her four-year-old son with a blanket, holding his mouth shut so that he would not scream and further enrage the robbers. More horror was to follow, as one of the robbers covered Rabia’s son with blankets and started to stab him repeatedly. “I thought my son was dead,” sobbed Rabia. The criminals continued to ransack the house and stole items such as a DVD player, a sound system, and food and drink from the fridge.

The whole ordeal lasted over an hour and a half, with the robbers finally leaving after being satisfied that they had taken everything of value. In addition to the two men who broke into the house, another two were waiting for them outside. Realising their torture was over, the family went outside to see in which direction the four robbers had fled. Their attackers were already long gone by this time and all they could do was alert the neighbours, who claimed they didn’t hear a thing. They were shocked to hear what had happened while they slept. The family say they now live in fear every night – they can’t sleep, only feeling secure enough to close their eyes when the sun starts coming up. The four-year-old grandson is afraid to be in the room where his mother was hit, and is haunted by the memory of her blood on his face. “We work so hard for everything we own, and people just come and take it away from us. Now we live in constant fear when we’re awake, and nightmares plague our sleep.”