If the recent police reports are anything to go by, residents of Comet village are under siege from violent criminals of late as police battle to find the perpetrators terrorising the once sleepy little village.
According to the reports, the area has from beginning of the year seen a total of 17 rapes and nine of these sexual abuses were reported in November alone.
What is more alarming is that the sexual assaults happened during house break-ins/house robberies while the victims were in their homes.
During the reported incidents, a pair of armed men reportedly forced their way into people’s homes, took turns raping the female occupants and made off with the victims’ valuables, such as cellphones and cash.
The Boksburg police admitted they have also noticed crime spiralling out of control over the last few weeks in the area, and it has become one of their areas of concerns.
“We have noticed the increase over the past few weeks. Management has had a meeting to devise a strategy and crime-fighting initiatives to deal with the problem there.”
A police source who asked to remain anonymous said judging from the modus operandi, it’s possible these atrocities are committed by the same pair, which points to the possibility of serial rapists targeting the community.
One resident, Sgidi Stuurman, shared the community’s pain of having to constantly battle robbers and rapist on a weekly basis, saying they have noticed the increase over the past few months but it has really become worse over the past few weeks.
“Comet is becoming a mini Angelo; crime after crime. We are now sleeping with one eye open because you just never know when you are the next target,” said the resident.
Stuurman, however, stated that the community has taken matters into their own hands by patrolling the streets after dark.
“People get robbed each and every week. There isn’t a week that goes by without an incident. It’s for that reason that we decided to stand up for ourselves because we don’t think that someone else will save us from the attackers,” said Stuurman.
