Teen wrestles robber to rescue gran

A VERULAM boy has emerged as the hero of a violent home invasion during which his 75year-old grandmother tried to fight off a robber attempting to snatch her gold neck chain, while another ripped out her sister’s earrings.

Thursday night was the fifth time the family had become victims of crime, but the 15-year-old boy, the grandson of one of the women, managed to stop the robbers in their tracks by raising the alarm.

The elderly woman and her sister, 54, were alone in the main building on the property and their other relatives were in the outbuilding, when two men entered the home through the kitchen door.

“I had taken my insulin and was resting on my bed when I heard a loud scream. Two men where in my sister’s bedroom. One suspect was sitting on top of her trying to remove her gold chain,” said the 54-year-old grandmother. “Each time she screamed, he either slapped or punched her on her face.”

As the mother of five walked towards the entrance of her bedroom she was confronted by the second robber.

“He demanded jewellery and keys to the safe. He pulled off my ring and then grabbed me by the ear and ripped out my earrings. When I told him I did not have a safe he became angry and hit me on the head with the butt of the gun and threatened to shoot me,” she said.

Her grandson, who had come from the outbuilding to watch television, was unaware of the unfolding drama.

”When he heard the scream he ran towards the bedroom and grabbed the suspect from behind in an attempt to pull him away from me. I screamed, telling him he had a gun and to run away. When he ran off the man gave chase, but he was quick and managed to alert other relatives as to what was happening,” his granny said.

The family contacted a security company and police but the robbers, jewellery in hand, had fled.

“I believe they (the robbers) were watching the house. My husband is on Hajj and my sons and son-in-law had left home minutes before the attack. They saw us as easy targets because we are women,” said the granny.

She said the family were fed up with crime and her sons never left home without their guns. “We cannot always be victims in our own homes.”

The teen said all he could think about was saving his grandmother. “They were taking advantage of two defenceless people over jewellery.”

Police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane said no arrests had been made.