KOWTHAR SOLOMONS
A GANG of armed robbers, led by a woman who uses a “damsel-in-distress” ploy to gain access to homes, has struck various Western Cape suburbs, prompting the Western Cape Community Police Forum (CPF) to issue a warning.
|||KOWTHAR SOLOMONS
A GANG of armed robbers, led by a woman who uses a damsel-in-distress ploy to gain access to homes, has struck various Western Cape suburbs, prompting the Western Cape Community Police Forum (CPF) to issue a warning.
So far incidents in Athlone, Rylands and Kuils River have been reported to the CPF.
Chairman Hanif Loonat said: “The woman will often knock on the victim’s door in the middle of the night and claim she is being chased, or is in need of medical help. Once the owner opens the door, her armed accomplices move in and hold the owners hostage while looting the household.”
Loonat said no serious injuries or deaths had been reported to date, but added that the level of violence was escalating with every case. “The robbers seem to pick specific targets and monitor their potential victims to gather information. This shows the level of sophistication.”
An Athlone man, who declined to be named, said he was held at gunpoint two months ago when a woman knocked on his door in the middle of the night, claiming she was being chased by gangsters.
“Because the area is known as a gang hotspot, her story wasn’t hard to believe. I opened the door to let her in but found two men standing beside her.
“One of them had a gun pointed straight at my chest. The woman told the men they had to move quickly and then I realised they were working together.”
He was then locked in the toilet. “I was terrified but so grateful my wife and daughter were staying over at a family member’s house for the night.” The man was only released from the toilet when his wife and daughter returned home.
They discovered that the gang took small to medium-sized appliances and a jewellery box.
Police spokesman Captain Frederick van Wyk also urged residents to be cautious.
kowthar.solomons@inl.co.za