A Pretoria woman was hacked to death and her domestic worker seriously injured
in what has been described by police as one of the Pretoria's most brutal
murders yet.
Rashida Ahmed, 49, was at her home in Laudium on Monday when two men forced
their way inside.
Locking themselves inside the house, the men, who are believed to have been
armed with a spade and a panga, overpowered Ahmed's domestic worker, Sara
Malatji, before they attacked Ahmed, who was in her bedroom.
Police sources say the men, over the period of about an hour, repeatedly hit
Ahmed over the head, shoulders neck and chest as they dragged her around the
house demanding money. The house was ransacked by the killers, including the
ceiling, of which the hatch was discovered open.
Neighbours' description of chilling screams for help from Ahmed as she tried to
claw her way through a security gate, and blood smears and pools, bear testimony
to the brutality of the killers.
Police refused to be drawn into whether the robbers tortured their victims
before they fled in a grey car parked near the house, but several said it was
one of the worst murders they had come across.
"It is beyond barbaric. It is inhuman. It is awful," said an officer.
The grey car had earlier been spotted by a neighbour's gardener as it travelled
up and down Himalaya Street several times before it stopped near Ahmed's house.
Two men were seen getting out of the car moments before the attack took place
and later running back to the car, which raced off to an unknown destination.
Hundreds of friends, family and neighbours rushed to the house as word of the
attack quickly spread.
It was the second such tragedy to strike the Ahmed family in the past three
years.
Three years ago, Ahmed's brother, Hussain Abdulrahman, was killed in his
driveway in a hijacking just a street away.
Ahmed's husband, Ali, and children Riaaz, 22, and Shariefa, 25, were
inconsolable when they received the tiding.
Riaaz had to be carried away forcefully from the house by friends as he tried to
break open a locked security door which separated him from his mother.
Shariefa, collapsed on the family's front lawn as Malatji, who had to be
resuscitated, was rushed by paramedics to an ambulance.
"It can't be true. It's not true. My mother is not dead. Please, God, don't let
my mother be dead," she cried.
Her father, who was overcome by grief, was unable to say anything. Sitting on
the patio shaking his head over and over again, he rocked himself as sobs
wracked his body.
Neighbours Surie Chetty and Sajhida Omar said they were inside their homes when
they heard screams for help.
"I heard Rashida calling me, pleading for me to help. It was horrible. She was
screaming and pleading for help. As I ran outside I saw her against the gate
trying to get out.
"The gate was locked. I couldn't get inside. I tried calling her, but it
suddenly went quiet. I tried to see what happened, but I couldn't see," said
Omar.
Chetty said she went cold when she heard the screams.
"They sounded like a wounded animal. When I ran outside I saw a woman with blood
all over her.
"I did not know what was happening. Her maid screamed for me begging for help
and then she collapsed."
in what has been described by police as one of the Pretoria's most brutal
murders yet.
Rashida Ahmed, 49, was at her home in Laudium on Monday when two men forced
their way inside.
Locking themselves inside the house, the men, who are believed to have been
armed with a spade and a panga, overpowered Ahmed's domestic worker, Sara
Malatji, before they attacked Ahmed, who was in her bedroom.
Police sources say the men, over the period of about an hour, repeatedly hit
Ahmed over the head, shoulders neck and chest as they dragged her around the
house demanding money. The house was ransacked by the killers, including the
ceiling, of which the hatch was discovered open.
Neighbours' description of chilling screams for help from Ahmed as she tried to
claw her way through a security gate, and blood smears and pools, bear testimony
to the brutality of the killers.
Police refused to be drawn into whether the robbers tortured their victims
before they fled in a grey car parked near the house, but several said it was
one of the worst murders they had come across.
"It is beyond barbaric. It is inhuman. It is awful," said an officer.
The grey car had earlier been spotted by a neighbour's gardener as it travelled
up and down Himalaya Street several times before it stopped near Ahmed's house.
Two men were seen getting out of the car moments before the attack took place
and later running back to the car, which raced off to an unknown destination.
Hundreds of friends, family and neighbours rushed to the house as word of the
attack quickly spread.
It was the second such tragedy to strike the Ahmed family in the past three
years.
Three years ago, Ahmed's brother, Hussain Abdulrahman, was killed in his
driveway in a hijacking just a street away.
Ahmed's husband, Ali, and children Riaaz, 22, and Shariefa, 25, were
inconsolable when they received the tiding.
Riaaz had to be carried away forcefully from the house by friends as he tried to
break open a locked security door which separated him from his mother.
Shariefa, collapsed on the family's front lawn as Malatji, who had to be
resuscitated, was rushed by paramedics to an ambulance.
"It can't be true. It's not true. My mother is not dead. Please, God, don't let
my mother be dead," she cried.
Her father, who was overcome by grief, was unable to say anything. Sitting on
the patio shaking his head over and over again, he rocked himself as sobs
wracked his body.
Neighbours Surie Chetty and Sajhida Omar said they were inside their homes when
they heard screams for help.
"I heard Rashida calling me, pleading for me to help. It was horrible. She was
screaming and pleading for help. As I ran outside I saw her against the gate
trying to get out.
"The gate was locked. I couldn't get inside. I tried calling her, but it
suddenly went quiet. I tried to see what happened, but I couldn't see," said
Omar.
Chetty said she went cold when she heard the screams.
"They sounded like a wounded animal. When I ran outside I saw a woman with blood
all over her.
"I did not know what was happening. Her maid screamed for me begging for help
and then she collapsed."
