THE church caretaker felt the cold steel of a gun being pushed into his ribs as he stared into the dark eyes of the thugs last Sunday.
He gave them the keys to the church after they had robbed him and his family, and taken his 14-year-old daughter with them.
Luckily a passing cop patrol bust the thugs in the church – but they were too late to stop them raping the innocent girl.
The man, his wife and their two daughters, the other aged six, have been living in a mkhuku on the church premises in Thokoza, Ekurhuleni for about a year now.
The 40-year-old father said: “I heard a noise outside and looked out the window but saw nothing. When I looked a second time, I saw people coming towards the church door.”
A man pushed him inside while another tied his hands and legs before proceeding to rob him – even of his wedding ring.
“They then took the church keys and started stealing. My children were still sleeping in their room in the shack,” said the dad.
After some time, one of the suspects went to the kids’ and came back with the 14-year-old daughter. “I pleaded with him to leave my child alone, but he told me to keep quiet and shoved some plastic in my mouth.”
He said he couldn’t do anything but was haunted by the screams of his daughter on the other side of the church.
A short while later a police patrol passed. “I heard gun shots and saw blue lights. My daughter came back screaming that the suspects were getting away. The police saved our lives.”
Buyisile Mvelase from the Thokoza police said patrolling cops exchanged fire with the suspects and arrested two, while four others fled on foot.
