A resident of Tsianda village, Mrs Magret Sadiki, her daughter Urifhe Sadiki (13) and her granddaughter, Gundo Sadiki (6), are still not feeling free to sleep at home after being attacked in their home three weeks ago.

According to Mrs Sadiki, she was sleeping in the house during the night of Saturday, March 6, when they heard a strange noise outside.

While she was trying to find out what was happening, a man wielding a panga suddenly plunged into the room in which they were sleeping through a broken window. The man rushed to the electrical main switch and turned it off; all of a sudden the whole house was in darkness.

After switching the lights off, the man went straight to Mrs Sadiki and started hitting her with his fists without saying a word. He then started to chop Mrs Sadiki to the body.

At that stage her daughter, Urifhe, was screaming for help from the neighbours. Mrs Sadiki, who was bleeding profusely, later escaped through the window and left the man inside the house. At that stage, the neighbours were waiting outside in the street. Realizing that she was bleeding, one of the neighbours phoned the police.

While Mrs Sadiki and the neighbours were waiting for the police in the street, the man also found his way out through the window and vanished in the darkness. When the police arrived about 30 minutes later, Mrs Sadiki explained everything to them and led them to the house.

Mrs Sadiki told Mirror that one of the police officers shocked her when he told her that the she was to blame for the whole incident as there were no burglar bars in front of the windows. She said she could not understand why the police officer was blaming her for being poor, as if it was something that she has chosen. To make matters worse, the very same police officer opened a case of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm, although there was an element of housebreaking when the man gained entrance through the window.

She said that she was very cross with the police officers when they took her to the Tshilidzini Hospital where she spent three days. When Mirror visited the Sadiki family last weekend, she stated that they were still sleeping at the neighbours as it was still difficult for her to come to terms with what had happened to her that night.

Approached for comment, the spokesperson for the Levubu Police Station, Insp Solly Mukhola, said that the case had been amended to housebreaking and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, after it was realized that the police officer who had opened the case had made a mistake. He indicated that investigations were continuing and that they were expecting to make a breakthrough soon.