Standing with his hands in his pockets, a security guard did absolutely nothing to help a young law student being brutally attacked by two girls in a wild rage at the Menlyn Piazza on Tuesday.
Arielle Bourbon was so badly beaten with fists, kicked and stepped on with high heels that the 23-year-old had to receive treatment at Wilgers Hospital – fearing that she might have sustained permanent damage to her one eye.
Bourbon, a former horse jumping champion who is currently in her third year at the University of Pretoria, was pounced on by the two women after one of them – with long dark hair, repeatedly and loudly called the student “fat”.
“When I told her that her comment was totally uncalled for, her blonde friend attacked me out of the blue, hitting me with her fists in my face,” Bourbon, still in pain and traumatised, said.
After being pushed and beaten and her hair pulled by both women, she eventually ended up on the floor of the parking area, rolling herself into a ball in an attempt to protect herself from the attack which was clearly captured on a closed circuit television camera.
The video footage shows how Bourbon was being kicked and stepped on with high heel shoes.
“This all happened while the security guard on duty watched the attack with his hands in his pockets,” Bourbon said, adding that the guard had said he refused to assist her ‘as his personal safety came first’.
On Wednesday, a case of common assault was opened by Bourbon at the Brooklyn police station, and the matter was being investigated, Lt. Linda Jerling said on Friday.
However, Bourbon on Friday morning said that they had since established the identity of her attackers and will lay further charges against the women. “I believe they must pay for what they have done.”
“We are also considering action against the security guard and the company he works for.” The name of the security company is known to Rekord, but comment could not be obtained about the demeanor of the guard.
Bourbon, who lives in Wapadrand in the east of Pretoria, said that she had initially not reacted, but admitted that she had started hitting back during the assault, saying that after the first few blows to her face she had “stripped” and started defending herself.
“The two women were in a wild rage,” she said, adding that she still had difficulty sleeping and was being plagued by nightmares.
Rennie Property Management, the company managing the Menlyn Piazza, could not immediately be reached for comment about the incident.
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