A woman was raped during a home invasion in Florin Road, Strubens Valley this morning (March 27).
According to BCI operations manager Lionel Gafney BCI reaction officers responded to a message on a community group of an attack and robbery at a house in Florin Road, adjacent to the greenbelt that runs between Florin and Sovereign Roads.
“Our officers raced to the scene and found that a home invasion has taken place, and that the domestic worker who was alone at the house at the time, had been raped.”
Gafney says that Fidelity ADT also responded to the scene, deploying a helicopter that searched the area.
Gafney was full of praise for the response from Honeydew police, who arrived at the scene within minutes from the report.
Reports of a burglary shortly before this incident turned out to be untrue. “There was a report of an intruder in a yard two houses down the road about an hour before this incident, but no burglary had taken place,” says Gafney. “A resident had reported an intruder in the yard an hour earlier. They shouted and raised alarm, upon which the suspect fled.”
According to a resident at the house where the apparent trespassing had occurred, she was at home with her parents at the time of the intrusion. Her mother spotted the intruder in their property and alerted her father, who grabbed his firearm and chased after him. “He jumped over our front wall into Florin Road and fled West toward River View Shopping Centre, turning left into Talent Avenue,” she says.
“My boyfriend rushed home and security came, but by that time, he was gone.”
She continues, “A short while later, the domestic worker two houses away from us screamed for help and we all came out to see what was going on. This is when we learned that she had been raped.”
Gafney says that the suspect description from the victim indicates that the intruder in the yard was the same person who committed the home invasion and rape.
After he had raped the domestic worker, robbed her of her cellphone and took some items from the home, the suspect apparently jumped over the back wall into the green belt and disappeared.
Police at the scene declined to speak to the Northsider, referring journalists to Johannesburg District police spokesperson Captain Tsietsi Phora.
The Northsider received unconfirmed information that this was the third robbery or burglary in the last six days in the area, and posed questions to Phora.
His response will be added when received.
