An elderly woman was found gruesomely beaten to death in her Athlone home.
The woman was last seen around 10am on Friday morning.
Her son made the grim discovery of his 66-year-old mother’s body when he arrived at the house after attending jumuah prayers at a local mosque.
The family runs a business, a tyre shop, on the premises at the corner of Johnston and Repulse Road in Rylands.
The woman was bludgeoned to death and ward councillor Shameema Dollie Salie says: “Sultana, the wife of late Hidayat Abdullah (Ulde) was murdered at home at the corner of Repulse and Johnstone Road, in Athlone.
“They robbed Sultana in Jumuah waqt and when the son came home he found her body.”
Athlone Community police forum (CPF) chairperson Sharon Claasen says they are worried about the spike in violent crime in the area.
“The 66-year-old female was a businesswoman in the area. The increase in violent crimes is very concerning and our SAPS officers have increased their visibility and operations to try and change the tide.
“This particular one is not gun or gang related. It falls out of scope with the other murders which have happened.
“The four on Thursday evening, two dead and others wounded, and then that other week on Friday Zamawushe Momoti was murdered and another man. The Thursday before then, three or four people were shot. The increase in crime is alarming.
“We are praying that the law enforcement agencies, our safety partners, will come together and come up with a strategic plan of how we can break the back of this surging crime.
“Up until Zamawushe’s murder, the murders were gang related or drug related in some way.”
Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said the circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation.
“Athlone police registered a murder and house robbery case for further investigation. According to reports police responded to a complaint of a housebreaking on Friday, at about 4:30pm at a premises in Johnson Road, Rylands, Athlone.
“On arrival at the mentioned address members found a 66-year-old female, deceased badly assaulted in a room in the house. It’s been reported that she was last seen at 10:30am in the morning. It’s unknown how entrance was gained to the premises and also unknown at this stage what was stolen.
“The victim was declared deceased on the scene by the medical personnel. The unknown suspects fled the scene and are yet to be arrested. The motive for this attack is now the subject of an investigation by the South African Police Service.”
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za