A Boesmanskop woman in the Zastron area was kidnapped from her home in the midnight hours and dropped off at the Lesotho border.
Daleen van der Hoven, who is in her 80s, was attacked by a group of men in her home around 2am on Friday.
She apparently didn’t hear when the men broke in.
Jackal le Roux, from Free State Agriculture (VL), says Van der Hoven was assaulted and the men stole six firearms. They then forced her into her vehicle, an Audi sedan, and drove her in the direction of Lesotho.
Le Roux says the group dropped Van der Hoven on the border at an FM tower in the same place where Lesotho citizens apparently easily cross the border.
Van der Hoven, who knows the area, walked across the border and asked for assistance from Lesotho citizens. Some people know her and one of them has a South African farmer’s cell number. Help was called.
Le Roux says it was bitterly cold in the area in the early hours of the morning and the people took care of Van der Hoven and warm it.
“If it wasn’t for them, she might have died,” he says.
Some time later, reports were received that Van der Hoven’s vehicle had been set on fire in Lesotho and that the attackers had fled.
Dr. Jane Buys, security and risk analyst at VL, says the Boesmanskop area is a crime focal point and is in the offing of criminals from the Mountain Kingdom.
Gerrit van der Walt, 59, the farmer who shot and killed an attacker last weekend, is not far from Van der Hoven.
Col. Provincial police spokesperson Thandi Mbambo confirmed the attack and said Van der Hoven was severely assaulted with an iron bar.
She was taken to a hospital in Bloemfontein on Friday.
