A granny met a tragic end when she was brutally strangled before her killers fled with her belongings. The incident recently happened at Waterval.

Gogo Gladys Marholeni (74) was in her room when unknown attackers entered her house. Although the facts surrounding the attack are still extremely sketchy, the room in which she was killed was in disarray and the walls were spattered with blood, which shows that the whole room was ransacked and the attack was vicious.

Police spokesperson Col Ronnel Otto said they had opened a murder case, following the incident. She appealed to the community to furnish the police with all the necessary information that could help them apprehend the perpetrators. “With the support we are getting from our communities, it will be just a matter of time before we catch up with the thugs. Our communities have always been very supportive in the past and we hope they will do the same here,” she said. At this stage, it is not known what instrument was used to kill the granny.

The chairperson of the Makhado Sanco region, Mr Andy Munyai, described the killers as sadists as they could have taken everything from her without having to use violence. “She was a defenceless old granny who could not offer any resistance and the killers could have removed whatever they wanted without having to kill her. They are heartless and do not deserve to live with people,” he said. He said the death had left the community devastated and sad.

 Munyai said they were just hoping that police would do their part and make sure that the culprits were brought to book and answered for their actions. “As leaders, we are very concerned about the death of defenceless people. We feel that the community has to stand up and join police in the fight against crime. We cannot just sit down and watch while our people are being killed,” he said.

Munyai called for unity and an intensification of the fight against crime by the community, in conjunction with the police. He said they were looking at ways of reviving the neighbourhood watch and street committees that would make it difficult for criminals to infiltrate the community.