A 62-year-old farmer has survived a brutal attack by three robbers who broke into her Thornville farm home.
|||Durban - A 62-year-old farmer has survived a brutal attack by three robbers who broke into her Thornville farm home on Friday morning.
Koos Marais of the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union’s (Kwanalu) security desk said at about midnight the woman - who lives alone in the farm - woke up to find three robbers inside her house.
The robbers burnt the woman on her shoulder with an iron and assaulted her before demanding cash.
“The victim then handed over R40 to the suspects. They then assaulted her on her face, cut her legs with knives and burnt her on her back with a hot iron,” said police spokesman Colonel Jay Naicker.
The robbers took the woman’s shotgun and her cellphones before fleeing in her bakkie.
The woman’s car was recovered in Isipingo on Friday morning.
Netcare 911 spokesman Chris Botha said the woman was critically injured. “We found that the elderly lady had suffered burns and blunt trauma injuries.”
The woman was said to be in a stable condition in hospital.
Marais said they were concerned with the seeming rise in farm attacks in the province.
He said the motive in most of the attacks seemed to be robbery for self-enrichment.
“Because farms are isolated robbers know that it normally takes police at least an hour to get to them.
“There is also the perception that farmers keep lots of cash in the homes, which is not true,” Marias said.
Police have appealed to anyone with information relating to this attack to contact Detective Warrant Officer Mandlenkosi Mpulo at 033 251 0671 or 082 459 6042
Daily News