‘Witch’, 79, left naked in street after assault
PRETORIA: An elderly mentally challenged woman is lying in hospital with serious injuries after being attacked by a mob of men who branded her a “witch” in Klipgat.
In the early hours of Saturday, the mentally unstable 79-year-old was savagely assaulted for suspected witchcraft after being found sweeping a street. She is recovering at Odi Community Hospital.
Her sister Martha Seduta, 60, said Johanna Seduta started behaving strangely as she grew older, later developing a habit of going around sweeping streets.
“She sweeps every day. We decided to leave her be since she was not harming anyone.”
Martha said she was attending a funeral in Winterveldt and returned to the news that her sister had been brutally assaulted by a gang of men. “I visited her in hospital and she is still swollen and green all over her face and body.
“She can speak, but every single time a man is around, she says that is the person who hit her with a brick, bottle or belt.
“It’s painful seeing her so badly beaten up and swollen. They ripped off her clothing – her blouse, ski-pants, skirt and head wrap and left her completely naked,” she said.
Neighbour Maria Mashiya said she was woken up by the elderly woman’s screams around 4.40am.
“I really wish I could have done more to help her because she is such a harmless and sweet person. She did not deserve what happened to her,” said Mashiya.
“I tried screaming for her grandchildren to come out and help, but there were so many of those men. They kept swearing at her grandson and dared him to get out so they could beat him up as well.”
Martha said neighbours and people who saw the men said they came from the tavern nearby.
“The most painful thing to hear is that she screamed and cried until she had no voice or strength any more. By the time more people came out, the attackers ran away, leaving her so badly hurt that she could not stand up by herself.
“They wanted to strip her naked so people would believe that she really was a witch.”
Neighbours said they were convinced the attackers were not from the area, as everyone knew she was harmless.
Family members don’t know who to open a case of assault against.
‘They wanted to strip her naked so people would believe she was a witch’