Community outrage at death of girl in Durban hijacking
A NINE-year-old girl was shot in the stomach in a botched car hijacking in Chatsworth yesterday morning.
She died in Chatsmed hospital, south of Durban, shortly afterwards.
Sadia Sukhraj had been taken along with the car by three gunmen when her father‚ pastor Shailendra Sukhraj‚ was hijacked near their home in Shallcross yesterday morning.
Outrage at the child’s death gained momentum on social media as news of the shooting went viral.
The father and daughter had been leaving their home in a Hyundai ix35 vehicle – which according to Sukraj’s Facebook page was bought in February – when they were accosted by the gunmen.
Chatsworth community policing forum chairman Jakes Singh said the vehicle was hijacked near Marklands Secondary School in Shallcross.
“The hijackers drove away with the child,” he said. “The hijacked vehicle was pursued by the child’s father‚ and then there was a shooting‚ so we don’t know exactly how the child got shot and by whom.”
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesman Captain Nqobile Gwala said the incident took place outside the girl’s home‚ which is near the school.
“At 7.30am, the [father] was at the family home when he was accosted by three armed suspects who then hijacked the vehicle,” Gwala said.
“There was a shooting and the suspects sped off with the girl.”
The hijackers then hit a truck and lost control of the vehicle in a nearby park.
One of the men was arrested by an off-duty police officer‚ another died near the vehicle and a third man is at large.
“A 39-year-old suspect was apprehended by an off-duty police official who witnessed the incident‚” she said.
Shallcross community police forum chairman Mahendra Lillkan said the incident was the first hijacking in the area in recent months.
“The community is shocked and saddened by this incident. We just don’t know what to say.
“General housebreakings have been continuing, but hijackings seemed to be under control‚” he said.
Meanwhile, Ethekwini deputy mayor Fawzia Peer, in a diatribe after Sadia’s shooting, said the fight against crime was a collective social responsibility and anger at mounting crime rates should be translated into action.
She was speaking at a stakeholder engagement session at the Durban City Hall yesterday in an effort to address the high crime rate.
“The fight against crime requires the help and support of every South African,” Peer said.
“It is no longer good enough to look the other way and assume that crime is someone else’s problem. Criminals can only thrive in communities where their actions are tolerated.” – TimesLIVE