Crime victim feels robbed of her freedom

The gang gained entry through the back door by removing the sliding door from its rails and forced open the security gate.

It was just a normal evening and after setting her alarm, Lena fell asleep.

When the alarm sounded at 4am, Lena switched it off and went back to sleep.

She was rudely awakened by someone slapping her lightly on the cheek.

“I opened my eyes and looked into the barrel of a pistol which was held by a robber standing next to my bed,” she says.

Another robber entered the room and Lena’s hands were tied behind her back with cable ties.

The two robbers told her to “keep quiet and work with us”.

The robbers asked for the safe code and when she didn’t immediately respond, she was pistol whipped by one of the men.

She claims the man’s accomplice scolded him for hitting her and said “don’t do that”.

Three more robbers entered her room and ransacked it, continuously opening and closing drawers.

She was made to kneel down next to her bed and her head was covered with a jacket.

Lena heard water running in her bathroom and feared the men would drown her.

The robbers took a flat screen TV, a Wii video games console, cash, her pistol and jewellery worth R100 000 from the safe.

They also took Lena’s make-up, perfume and T-shirts – items she thinks are peculiar to be stolen in a robbery.

The suspects picked Lena up from the floor and tied her legs.

They loaded all the stolen goods into her vehicle, a Jeep Cherokee, and told her, “don’t worry, you will get your car back”.

The suspects then locked her in her bedroom and drove off.

It was 5.25am when Lena managed to untie her legs, and with her hands still tied behind her back, she managed to open the bathroom window and scream for help.

Rudi Kock, one of Lena’s employees, heard her cries for help and rushed to assist.

“I was shocked to find her tied up and locked in her bedroom, she was terrified” says Rudi.

Several knives from the kitchen were found scattered around the house.

Lena feels the men also robbed her of her freedom.

She now lives like a hermit and has installed extra security measures to keep her safe.

Springs SAPS spokesman Capt Johannes Ramphora confirms that a case of house break-in and theft was opened at the police station.

Lena’s car was found abandoned in Mamelodi the same day.

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