Update
GEORGE NEWS - A 33-year-old man from KwaNonqaba in Mossel Bay has been arrested for the possession of stolen property linked directly to the brutal attack on Karen Marshall at her home in Hoekwil on Thursday 28 December.
According to Southern Cape police spokesperson, Captain Malcolm Pojie, the police arrested the suspect in Hoekwil on Friday 5 January. "However, the case was not placed on the court roll due to insufficient evidence at this stage."
He will appear in the George Magistrate's Court on Thursday 18 January for a bail application. The suspect was remanded in custody. Pojie added that the investigation is ongoing.
Karen Marshall (79) was accosted by the four men when she left her home to dispose of her leftover supper at around 22:00 on Thursday 28 December.
A badly battered and bruised Marshall who was admitted to the George Mediclinic told the George Herald that she was confronted by four unknown assailants.
"I had just put the food in the bag when I was grabbed and overpowered by the attackers who first took me into the house and then pushed me outside into the garden. They threw me face down onto the lawn and tied my hands behind my back and bound my feet. One of them sat on my back while the others were inside vandalizing the house. They demanded money. They went into the garden shed and took a spade. I heard them ransacking the house; I think they were looking for a safe. My rings were ripped off my fingers."
Marshall estimates that they were in the house for about an hour. "They spoke in a foreign accent that I could not recognise. They then manhandled me into the shower cubicle. While I was in the cubicle they put the bathplug in the bath and turned on the taps and left." The house was flooded. She managed to free her legs and pressed the security panic button. She also somehow managed to remove the bathplug. The security company official found her in the bath.
Marshall was released from the Mediclinic on Sunday 7 January.
Pojie confirmed that a house robbery case had been opened for investigation by the George Crime Unit. "One of the assailants had a firearm with which they threatened her. They fled with an undisclosed amount of jewellery, clothes, a cellphone and house keys. The woman sustained severe bruises and injuries to her wrists and ribs."
Anyone with information is requested to call the investigation officer, Detective Constable Matwa at 072 736 0360 or Crime Stop at 08600 10111.
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