Young man’s stomach cut open by attacker in Sonpark
Following an alleged argument between two men in Sonpark, one of them had his stomach slashed open with a knife.
A young man’s abdomen was slashed open by a drive-by motorist on November 10, in an attack so ferocious that the victim’s liver was visible afterwards.
He now fears for his life, because the man accused of the attack was released on bail later that week.
According to Rickus Kitchen (22), he and Petresco Jardim (24) had an argument, and Jardim, at the time seated in his car, allegedly drew a knife, cut Kitchen in the abdomen, and sped away.
A provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, confirmed that the incident reportedly occurred in the early-morning hours near Sonpark Boulevard.
According to Kitchen, he is acquainted with Jardim.
Jardim was arrested on charges of attempted murder later that day and appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on November 14, where he was released on bail of R3 000, on condition that he reports to the nearest police station every week.
Rickus’s father, Pieter, said, “My son and his friends were walking near the filling station when the argument with the driver of the vehicle ensued. It was around 00:45.”
A video Lowvelder has in its possession only shows the order of events that led to the stabbing incident.
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Petresco can be seen driving slowly away from Rickus and his two friends. Rickus curses the driver repeatedly, and another man makes derogatory statements regarding the driver’s mother.
Rickus’s mother, Suzel, alleged that this was followed by the driver trying to hit her son with his car. “In the same movement, he took a sharp object and slashed him open,” she alleged.
She estimated that the wound was around 15cm to 16cm deep, and said his liver was visible. His friends rushed Rickus to Mediclinic Nelspruit, but he was later transferred to Rob Ferreira as he has no medical aid. He was later discharged.
Lowvelder is in possession of photographs of his wounds, but due to its graphic nature, these cannot be shown.
In an interview with Lowvelder, Rickus said he is lucky to be alive. His doctor told him that had the knife gone in 2mm deeper, he would have died.
According to Rickus, the doctors struggled to stop his bleeding. “My friends had to transport me to the hospital, because the security guards who responded to the scene said due to my bleeding, they would not able to carry me,” he alleged.
Rickus said he was still traumatised by seeing his own intestines, and was disappointed when the accused was granted bail of only R3 000.
“I am going to apply for a protection against Jardim. I do not feel safe, since he is now a free man. He can still come and finish what he started. I want him in police custody,” Rickus said.
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Pieter said his son would have started a new job on Monday November 14. “Our lives as parents were turned upside down. The worst feeling in life is when the hospital staff come to you and say there is a good possibility that your son is not going to make it if he doesn’t get surgery right away.
In the same breath, they tell you that you have to put down R35 000 for him to go to surgery. And what do you do when you don’t have that money? I started praying that God must please save my son, and He did. Half an hour later, they came to us and said they managed to stop the bleeding, and that he was stable and could be transferred to Rob Ferreira Hospital.”
Jardim’s lawyer, Mlungisi Makwakwa, said he would not comment on the matter until he had submitted his client’s version of events in court.
Jardim’s parents said there was always two sides to a story and they would let the law take its course.
