A young man is terrified and traumatised after being forced to watch a fellow student being gang-raped by three armed men wearing balaclavas on Wednesday.
The Walter Sisulu University student, 20, who cannot be named, was stripped of his clothes, robbed of his bank card and forced to give his pin number in a night of terror only a few metres from the Mthatha campus.
The student said he and a female friend had been accosted by the three masked thugs inside the Zamukulungisa campus at about 9pm.
“One was carrying a gun and the others had knives. They instructed us to go with them,” he said.
He was accompanying his female friend to her residence on campus when the men approached them.
“They ordered us not to make a noise,” he said. The men forced the pair through the back entrance of the university, and to a spot under a nearby bridge.
“As we were walking they asked if we had any belongings like phones or wallets. We told them that we did not. They said we were stupid for leaving them behind because they were only going to take them and leave us.
“We pleaded with them to let us go, but they refused. They threatened to kill us if we ran.”
He said they were searched by the men, who discovered he had a bank card. “They demanded a pin number. I gave them a wrong one,” he said.
One of the men then went to the nearby Ultra City garage to withdrew cash, “but he came back empty-handed as I gave him an incorrect pin.
“He threatened to kill me for giving the wrong pin. I then gave him the correct one,” he said.
The thug then went and withdrew R650. “As we were still under the bridge one of the two men we were left with dragged my friend off.
“I immediately knew what he wanted to do. She begged them not to hurt her. I grabbed her tight and that is when they threatened to kill me. They started raping her. The one who had gone to town returned and also raped her,” he said.
He said they were only allowed to return to the university premises just after 2am, after a five-hour ordeal.
“I called the police, but I was told there were no cars available. In the morning I woke and went to open a case at the police station. My friend went home immediately without opening a case,” he said.
When the Dispatch called the woman yesterday she said she did not want to talk about her ordeal, and dropped the call. The Dispatch understands she has not laid a complaint with police or the university as she is too distraught to do so.
University spokeswoman Yonela Tukwayo said the incident had not come to their attention.
The young man said their tormentors were inhumane. “I feel very traumatised, but I cannot begin to imagine what my friend is going through,” he said.
He blamed the university for not having proper security in place.
Police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela confirmed a case of robbery had been opened in Mthatha. — sinom@dispatch.co.za
Student raped by masked trio
The Walter Sisulu University student, 20, who cannot be named, was stripped of his clothes, robbed of his bank card and forced to give his pin number in a night of terror only a few metres from the Mthatha campus.
The student said he and a female friend had been accosted by the three masked thugs inside the Zamukulungisa campus at about 9pm.
“One was carrying a gun and the others had knives. They instructed us to go with them,” he said.
He was accompanying his female friend to her residence on campus when the men approached them.
“They ordered us not to make a noise,” he said. The men forced the pair through the back entrance of the university, and to a spot under a nearby bridge.
“As we were walking they asked if we had any belongings like phones or wallets. We told them that we did not. They said we were stupid for leaving them behind because they were only going to take them and leave us.
“We pleaded with them to let us go, but they refused. They threatened to kill us if we ran.”
He said they were searched by the men, who discovered he had a bank card. “They demanded a pin number. I gave them a wrong one,” he said.
One of the men then went to the nearby Ultra City garage to withdrew cash, “but he came back empty-handed as I gave him an incorrect pin.
“He threatened to kill me for giving the wrong pin. I then gave him the correct one,” he said.
The thug then went and withdrew R650. “As we were still under the bridge one of the two men we were left with dragged my friend off.
“I immediately knew what he wanted to do. She begged them not to hurt her. I grabbed her tight and that is when they threatened to kill me. They started raping her. The one who had gone to town returned and also raped her,” he said.
He said they were only allowed to return to the university premises just after 2am, after a five-hour ordeal.
“I called the police, but I was told there were no cars available. In the morning I woke and went to open a case at the police station. My friend went home immediately without opening a case,” he said.
When the Dispatch called the woman yesterday she said she did not want to talk about her ordeal, and dropped the call. The Dispatch understands she has not laid a complaint with police or the university as she is too distraught to do so.
University spokeswoman Yonela Tukwayo said the incident had not come to their attention.
The young man said their tormentors were inhumane. “I feel very traumatised, but I cannot begin to imagine what my friend is going through,” he said.
He blamed the university for not having proper security in place.
Police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela confirmed a case of robbery had been opened in Mthatha. — sinom@dispatch.co.za
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