Community nabs robbery suspect after woman stabbed

COMMUNITY members handed over a suspect who allegedly stabbed a woman in Moshoeshoe Street, Galeshewe, during the early hours of Monday morning to community crime-fighters Operation Wanya Tsotsi when the police did not arrest him.

The suspect allegedly stabbed the woman five times with a knife after forcing entry to her shanty.

He had allegedly earlier stolen a laptop from the woman’s neighbour after breaking down the shanty door, which was locked with a chain and padlock.

Local residents said that the suspect had moved to Kimberley last week and was originally from the Eastern Cape. “He recently relocated from Bloemfontein,” they said.

A community member, Lungisa Fikiso, said the woman’s five-year-old daughter was also inside the shanty at the time of the incident, at around 4-5am on Monday morning.

“Nothing was taken, except the laptop from the next door shanty. We came to her assistance when we heard her screaming for help. She lost a lot of blood and was taken to the hospital for medical treatment,” said Fikiso.

“A group of community members saw the suspect fleeing the scene and went to search for him. We retrieved the stolen laptop at a house in West End, where the suspect apparently threw it out of the window when we arrived. He told us that he didn’t do anything and never stole the laptop.”

Fikiso claimed that the police did not want to arrest the suspect as they had not yet obtained a statement from the complainant as she was still in hospital receiving medical treatment at the time.

“The suspect was released and we kept him inside the yard to prevent him from escaping. We requested Operation Wanya Tsotsi to keep him until he was taken into custody.”

Pantsi Obusitse from Operation Wanya Tsotsi stated that the police indicated that they were unable to arrest the suspect as there was blood visible on his body.

“We took him to the doctor, who treated him and wiped the blood off. We took the suspect back to the police station and he was taken into custody,” said Obusitse.

Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Sergio Kock said the Galeshewe SAPS were investigating a case of house robbery in Moshoeshoe Street, Galeshewe.

“It is alleged that the suspect kicked open the shanty door in the early hours of Monday, where he entered the house, stabbed the victim and then robbed her,” said Kock.

He added that the 30-year-old suspect was brought to the Galeshewe police station.

“He was arrested that same afternoon. The suspect will be appearing before the Galeshewe Magistrate’s Court soon. The investigation continues,” Kock stated.