LILLIAN AMOS
Children were targetted by criminals in three cases last week, but thankfully, none of the children appear to have been harmed.
A Lotus River mother is still in shock after her house was burgled on Fri- day April 8 while her eight year-old daughter and 11 year-old son were at home.
The mother of three, who was at work at the time and wants to stay anonymous, told the Southern Mail that her daughter was at their front gate when two men stopped near the house with a blue Mk1 Golf and asked her questions about the family.
“My daughter didn’t want to answer the questions and went inside but the man followed,” she said.
“He saw that there was no adult and proceeded to take my electronic tablet, R500, our TV and a watch.”
The woman was relieved that her children were not harmed.
“Usually by that time on a Friday I am home but I was running late that day. I am just grateful that my children weren’t hurt because they could have done harm to them.”
Grassy Park police revealed that a similar method targetting children was used on two other occasions on the same day – one in Lotus River and one on Steen- berg.
Warrant Officer Wynita Kleinsmith said at about 1pm a man stopped a young boy in Lotus River and took his house keys.
“The suspect knew personal details of the complainant’s mother. He took valuable items inside the house and took the minor and drove off with him,” said Warrant Officer Kleinsmith.
The young boy was in the car when the men robbed the house in Lotus River where the eight year-old girl and 11 year-old boy were alone at home.
The men then dropped the boy at a Caltex garage.
In Steenberg, the two men struck again at about 1.10 pm pretending to sell perfume.
Two 13-year old boys were taken after their aunt was approached to buy perfume. The suspects told the boys to go with them to fetch more perfume. That’s when the boys were taken along with a laptop.
The children were later returned unharmed.
The suspects are two men, aged between 34 and 40 years old.
Anyone with information about this or other crime can call the police at 021 700 3940 or Crime Stop at 08600 10111.
All information will be treated as highly confidential.