Five men rob and burn victims with iron

13 Mar 2008 09:15 - Staff Reporter

Five men robbed a family at Hennopsriver in the Erasmia area, burning the mother and father with an iron. Constable Patricia Simelane said the men demanded money -- saying that they had been told there was money in the house -- and "they burnt the mother and father with an iron three of four times on the upper body".

Five men robbed a family at Hennopsriver in the Erasmia area, burning the mother and father with an iron, Johannesburg police said on Thursday.

“Five men, four of them armed, entered the house through an open window on Wednesday night into a room where four children were working on a computer ... they took them to the living room where the father was and tied then up,” said Constable Patricia Simelane.

The mother, who was sleeping at the time, was also tied up.

Simelane said the men demanded money—saying that they had been told there was money in the house—and “they burnt the mother and father with an iron three of four times on the upper body” to force them to reveal where the money was kept.

“The men ransacked the house and took R200, two TV’s, a DVD player, an M-Net decoder and stole the family’s Toyota bakkie,” she said.

Police have opened robbery and assault docket.

“Investigations are continuing; no arrests have been made but the vehicle is being tracked using Netstar,” said Simelane.