Hit in the face for her handbag
Josephine Maguru needed stitches to her face after being beaten by a handbag thief last Thursday
POLOKWANE – Josephine Maguru needed stitches to her face after being beaten by a handbag thief last Thursday.
The incident occurred while she waited for her sister in Schoeman Street.
Maguru was approached by a man believed to be in his 20s, who asked for directions to a certain store and while she was distracted by giving him directions, the man then grabbed at her handbag.
Maguru held onto the bag and the man hit her in the face with his fist so that she would let go of the bag.
According to Maguru, she was too scared to go out into the street now and did not want to do her shopping unless she could get a lift to one of the bigger malls.
“I don’t want to stay in the house on my own and I don’t want to go out of the house anymore,” Maguru said.
She said she was scared of becoming a victim again and as she did not know the man, it was difficult to open a case.
She described her attacker as around 1,5 m tall and of slim build. “He was wearing black pants and a black jacket with the hood over his head,” Maguru said.
Polokwane police spokesperson, Capt Ntobeng Phala said the police doubled patrols in the area and have issued a warning to women walking in the street not to carry handbags if possible.
