UPDATE: 29 March 2016, 2pm – Kesagee Nayager, Gautrain spokesperson said they have received the complaint and an investigation is under way.
INITIAL REPORT: 29 March 2016, 12pm: Thinking that she was supporting a good cause, a young woman from Rosebank allowed a stranger to write on her arm. Little did she know that she was actually being drugged.
The woman, who would like to remain anonymous, alleged that on 21 March, she was drugged by a young man on the Gautrain. She was travelling from Rosebank to Hatfield in Pretoria.
“Shortly after the train left the Sandton station I was approached by a black male, well spoken and dressed in a blue checked shirt and jeans. He asked me if he could talk to me for two minutes and sat down,” she recalled.
The woman explained that the man told her that he was an activist for violence against women and children and that he had a Facebook page that was aimed to bring awareness as to how much violence there is in South Africa.
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The man went on to say he was writing the name of the Facebook page on the inside of people’s forearm and taking a picture of the writing. He said he wanted to make a collage with the pictures. “I agreed to let him write the name of the Facebook page on my arm and take a picture of it. He wrote something on my arm (I do not remember exactly what) and took a photo of my arm (with my packed muffins in the background).”
The woman alleges that the man used three different kinds of koki pens and as soon as he started writing on her arm, she started to feel very strange. “I felt dizzy, drowsy and was shaking uncontrollably,” she explained.
“I figured that it must be something in the ink on my arm that was making me feel so strange so I took the sleeve of my jersey and some water and washed it off. A man seated across the aisle, wearing a navy blue shirt and jeans, facing me, saw that I had washed the writing off and took a second, cheap phone out of his pocket and sent an SMS.”
The woman said she stayed calm until Hatfield where her friend was picking her up and relayed the story to the friend. The friend rushed her to hospital and, although doctors could not say which drug was used, they did confirm that the woman was drugged. “The doctor put me on a drip to flush out my system.”
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The woman said she believes the man was targeting young women who were travelling alone, although she could not figure out why young women were targets. “Two other girls were also approached before me, no men were approached,” she said.
Gautrain is still to comment on the matter.
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