LIMPOPO – Two hitchhikers on the N11 were dragged behind a bakkie, assaulted, and one of them injected with an unknown substance near the Marble Hall cemetery, before being robbed of their belongings and cash last week.
According to the men, they stood at the roadside when a red and white double cab bakkie stopped.
Sipho Mthimunye, one of the victims, told emergency workers the occupants of the vehicle dragged them behind the bakkie for roughly 40 metres before the vehicle stopped.
“They then assaulted us and injected me with a substance, in the neck.”
Life 24 Ambulance Services Spokesperson Mercia Blake, who responded to the call last Monday, said upon arrival, they found the victims traumatised.
“Mthimunye had been severely assaulted, he was confused and crying. He kept saying he had been injected. When we investigated his neck, we found the needle mark. It is suspected that the perpetrators used nyaope to confuse the two men. When I tried to help him he repeatedly refused, saying ‘no needles’.”
“He could barely speak. These types of attacks are very serious. It is inhumane,” added Blake.
The victims were robbed of all their belongings including cash which was their wages for the month. They were transported to the nearest hospital.
Const Lethunya Mmuroa, Marble Hall Police Spokesperson, said no case had been opened as they wait for the victims to recover from the trauma.
