Brutal attack on PE pensioner

An elderly woman was brutally attacked while asleep when her Overbaakens home was broken into in the early hours of Saturday.

The 72-year-old woman, who lives alone and is not being named, sustained a cracked skull and bleeding on the brain.

The woman had taken sleeping tablets before going to bed at about midnight and woke up after 6am lying in a pool of blood in the passage of her Gustav Preller Street home, with a deep wound to her head.

She also had painful ribs and marks on her wrists, as if she had been pinned down.

Disoriented, she crawled to the phone and alerted security company NSA as well as the police.

Her cellphone and TV were found to be missing.

The bedroom window at the back of the house had been smashed with stones, which were found lying on the floor of the room.

The woman is being treated at Greenacres Hospital.

Her daughter, 39, who lives in Lorraine and also did not want to be named, said the family was shocked and upset that such a terrible thing had happened to a defenseless woman.

“I am horrified that someone would do this to an elderly person,” she said.

“My mother was dragged off her bed and hit with a heavy object.

“When she woke up, she was disoriented but managed to crawl to the phone to call the police.

“She now has a cracked skull and bleeding on the brain, although she is a bit more responsive now. Her eyes are swollen shut.

“She has been moved from high care to a normal ward.”

The attack victim has two German Shepherds, which appear not to have reacted to the break-in and attack.

“I think this was someone who knows the property well because the alarm was activated, but the window that was broken was one which would not set it off,” the daughter said.

A neighbour, who has been living in the area for more than 20 years, said it was the most bizarre thing to have happened as the street was usually quiet.

“She [attack victim] is one of the friendliest and most trusting people you could come across,” the woman, who did not want to be identified, said.

“It is strange that something of this nature occurred because this is generally a quiet area.

“We were awake until the early hours of the morning and did not hear or see anything.

“In all the years of living here I never thought something like this would happen.”

The neighbour said the elderly woman had still been in shock and covered in blood at about 8am, while dealing with police who, she said, had shown up in their numbers to attend to the case.

Police spokeswoman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg appealed to residents to help.

“The police see this attack on the elderly in a serious light and are therefore seeking community assistance in the investigation,” she said.

Anyone with information should contact Walmer detectives on (041) 581-1496 or Crime Stop on 08600-10111 or Crime Line on 32211.