The woman brutally attacked on her Oatsdale farm near Harrismith supports her community and tries her best to uplift the poor, Free State Agriculture (FSA) said on Monday.
The 58-year-old woman was an FSA executive management member, according to the organisation.
“She fulfilled an important role in fighting the large wild fires in Harrismith last year, while she supported the poverty-stricken communities who lost everything in the fires, by requesting donations for them afterwards,” FSA said in a statement.
“It is hard to understand why someone who tries so hard to help their community, is attacked so brutally.”
According to police, she was stabbed, burnt and raped on Sunday.
Sergeant Mmako Mophiring said she arrived home in the afternoon to find two men on her property. They forced her into the house where they demanded money.
The woman was stabbed in the leg and on the shoulder after telling her attackers she had no money.
They also burnt her with an iron, Mophiring said.
The woman was taken to a room at the back of her house where the men took turns raping her. She was tied up with a cloth while they ransacked the house.
They took the few rands she had in her purse and her cellphones before fleeing in her white Mahindra bakkie.
The woman untied herself and ran to a farmworker’s house to request help.
The FSA said the attack was concerning and they would assist the woman in every possible way. The executive members were expected to visit her.
No arrests have been made and the police were investigating a case of house robbery, attempted murder and rape.
Source – News24
South Africa Today – South Africa News
