Durban - Days before Sagie and Salosh Naidoo celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary, he was shot in the leg and she in the arm during an armed robbery at their home in Newlands West.
The attack took place last Wednesday.
Sagie 63, a former policeman, was shot in the right leg. It had to be amputated due to excessive bleeding. He is in a stable condition in hospital.
Salosh, 62, a housewife, was punched in the face and shot in the left arm. She suffered nerve damage and is unable to use her arm. Salosh had moved in with her daughter in Phoenix but on Tuesday was readmitted to hospital for further tests.
Recalling the incident, she said their granddaughter, 16, and grandson, 12, were in bed and that their sons, aged 38 and 36, had returned home from work and a shop, respectively.
Salosh said her youngest son was on the deck outside the home, while the elder son was elsewhere on the property. She said three men arrived in a white Etios.
“They jumped over the fence and one of them tackled my younger son. He was not seriously injured. The gate to our lounge was locked but the door was open. Sagie and I had just finished watching TV and were getting up to go to bed when we heard our youngest son shout ‘dad don't open the gate… leave my parents alone’.”
Before they could react, they saw two men in masks and hats pry open the gate with a crowbar and then enter the lounge.
“One was armed and the other had a crowbar and a screwdriver. Sagie ran into a room to get our son’s firearm. The children heard the commotion and remained in their room. One of the men grabbed me by the arm and punched me in the mouth. I fell and was semi-conscious. I could feel someone grabbing my hands. I thought I was being handcuffed. I somehow regained consciousness and saw him trying to pull the gold bangles off my wrist.”
They took her bangles and wedding ring.
“Just then, Sagie emerged with the gun but the other suspect overpowered him and shot him in the leg and then shot me in the arm. They took my husband’s rings off his fingers and fled. I don’t know what happened thereafter. All I remember was being in the hospital. The bullet is still lodged in my arm. The doctors can operate in January only, because it is a complicated surgery.”
In the interim, her arm is in a sling.
“On Thursday morning, Sagie’s leg was amputated from his knee. I was able to visit him but it was difficult to see him in that condition.”
She said they would have given the robbers their valuables.
“Why shoot us? This incident has changed our lives completely. No one should have to go through this. We have only been living in the home for eight years. Last year, we also had a robbery.”
She said she no longer wanted to live in her home. “I am scared to go back. I had my wedding ring for so many years and now it’s gone. It holds many memories of our wedding. The time my husband and I have shared together.”
The couple’s wedding anniversary is on December 29 and they had planned to have a family get-together. "My husband is an ex-cop and he used to tell us about the crime scenes he attended over the years. But we never thought this would happen to us. After this incident, I told my grandchildren that after they study they must leave South Africa and settle in a better country.”
Colonel Thembeka Mbele, a provincial police spokesperson, said charges of house robbery and attempted murder were being investigated by the Newlands SAPS.
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