The father of a Chatsworth woman who was shot by two robbers is furious, claiming that police refused to chase them.
|||Durban - The father of a Chatsworth woman who was shot by two handbag snatchers is furious, claiming that policemen refused to chase after them.
Christina Gnanavadhi, 22, is counting her blessings after one of the robber’s bullets grazed her head as she fled.
Another went through her left arm.
She had just left home and was walking along Sunset Avenue in Woodhurst, Chatsworth, on Monday morning when two men accosted her.
Her distraught father, Gerald Gnanavadhi, said Christina had later pointed out the suspects to police in the nearby bush, but they refused to pursue them.
They had not even taken a statement from his daughter, he said, adding he was considering laying a formal complaint with the police.
Recalling her ordeal, Christina said she was walking to work.
“Suddenly these two guys who were neatly dressed – looking like they were on their way to work too – turned around and said, ‘sorry ma’am’ before trying to pull my handbag away,” she said.
Christina reacted quickly and dug into the bag to grab her BlackBerry smartphone, which she hid in her pocket.
“I told them to leave me and not hurt me and just to take my bag, and then I ran away screaming,” she said.
“While I was running away, the other guy fired a shot in the air and then he shot at me.”
Christina ran into a nearby block of flats and pleaded for help. The robbers ran into the adjacent bush.
A passing police van was stopped by residents, who pointed out that the suspects could be seen in the bush, with Christina’s handbag.
Gnanavadhi, who was awoken by the commotion, said he ran to the scene and saw the policemen standing there.
He took his daughter to RK Khan Hospital, where she was discharged later on Monday after being given painkillers.
Gnanavadhi lambasted the police for not fulfilling their duties and said their attitude was one of fear.
He said police had yet to take a statement.
“I was angry, I was busy trying to get my daughter to stop bleeding and get her to hospital, but many witnesses told me when we came back later that the police refused to chase the suspects,” he said.
“They just watched. They were there before me and didn’t do anything to help.
“We put her in the car and took her to hospital. I can’t tell you one thing they did because I don’t know what it is,” he said.
“Police must do their job to the best of their ability.
“I only have one daughter… and she could have died,” he said.
Gnanavadhi also criticised the hospital.
“My daughter could have died there, they took so long to attend to her while she was lying on a stretcher.
“They only gave her painkillers and told her she can go home.
“They took it as if nothing serious had happened.”
An emotional Gnanavadhi repeated: “I only have one daughter; I will go to all extremes to protect her.
“For a third party to just come and shoot my daughter… why is that?
“Why must he shoot her because she had already released the bag”?
Chatsworth councillor, Brandon Pillay, expressed concern that crime appeared to be increasing in the area.
Recent incidents:
* Robbers disguised as police officers – with uniforms and blue lights fitted on their vehicle – hijacked a Ford Focus in Mobeni Heights last week. The car was later recovered by a tracking company.
* On Sunday night, patrons of a Bayview pub were robbed by five armed men who took cash and cellphones.
* A Chatsworth woman was hijacked at gunpoint in her VW Polo GTi on Monday. The car was recovered damaged in KwaNdengezi by her tracking company.
* A woman and her son were assaulted in Summerfields by an armed robber two weeks ago.
Pillay said: “It’s a sad reality in our area unfortunately, and it seems the police are against the people because it feels like we are not getting assistance from them.
“Police really need to play their part; we can’t have people living in so much fear all the time.”
Pillay said in some communities in Chatsworth, people had started doing their own patrols in a bid to fight the criminals.
The SAPS had not responded to queries by the time of publication.
Daily News