Woman cheats death in Honda Fit leap
A 24-year-old woman from Pumula East in Bulawayo survived death by a whisker when she jumped off a moving Honda Fit car in a suspected abduction on Friday.
Miss Mayibongwe Nyathi sustained multiple injuries on her face, abdomen and her left knee after landing on the tarmac as she tried to escape from her alleged abductor.
She also lost her Samsung S4 mobile phone, a backpack, a purse containing about $60 and her national identity card which she left in the car after the escape. Miss Nyathi told Sunday News that she boarded the car at around 7pm at a bus stop popularly known as Mara Turnoff (along Khami Road) which is known for muggings.
She narrated her ordeal, “I boarded the Honda Fit around 7pm on my way to town and the driver actually looked for customers. My suspicions were aroused when he (the driver) took the Magwegwe turn and sped through it and approached a bushy area. That was round about the time I noticed that he had locked all the doors. When he noticed my discomfort he turned back to the main road and continued “looking for customers” and took the turn which separates Pelandaba West and Hyde Park Cemetery.
“He sped along the road saying he wanted to collect someone from eMakharathini shops but sped past the shops.” Miss Nyathi said when they got to the end of the paved road the driver stopped and jokingly asked her if she was afraid.
“The driver then made a call to someone whom he said was at Goveya turn-off and wanted to be collected from there.
“When I noticed that he had passed Goveya (in Kelvin North industrial area) I asked him where he was going, and he replied ‘sukhuluma kakhulu’ (you’re now talking too much). He immediately increased the speed to 180km/h.
“He approached another bushy area and as he drove along, I jumped out through the window. He shouted at me but I didn’t hear what he said because, for a moment there I lost my mind,” she said. Miss Nyathi said she was saved by a Good Samaritan who drove her home from the scene.
“I have no recollection of what happened afterwards but a Good Samaritan drove me home, after which my brother took me to the police station and then hospital.”
Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Precious Simango could not confirm the incident yesterday, she was yet to receive a report from Pumula Police Station.
Sunday News, however, has a copy of a police statement on Miss Nyathi’s case from Pumula Police Station.
In August this year police issued a warning to members of the public against boarding pirate taxis as they are linked to a spate of criminal activities.