Taxi passenger assaulted, robbed in Diep River

A domestic worker was attacked and robbed of her cellphone, allegedly by a taxi driver, on Main Road, Diep River, say police.

Diep River police chief Lieutenant Colonel Ansley Jacobs says this is one of two such incidents reported at the station in the past two weeks.

“On Tuesday afternoon, May 14, a domestic worker got into what looked like a regular minibus taxi. She was the only passenger and sat in the front seat, heading towards Wynberg. Unexpectedly the driver took a right turn off Main Road and proceeded to beat the woman with a blunt object to the back of her head, grabbing her cellphone,” said the Bergvliet Kreupelbosch and Meadowridge Watch in a Facebook post.

The watch said the woman escaped and with “blood gushing from her head”, she returned to her employer’s Meadowridge house to seek help.

According to the watch, a volunteer medic attended to the woman, who received six stitches.

Lieutenant Colonel Jacobs said the robbery matched an incident reported recently and there was a strong possibility the two were linked.

“The taxi picks the complainants up in Main Road, Diep River, they drive a short distance or into the next road, assault the victims and then rob them of their phones.”

A taxi driver had been pointed out to officers who had then questioned him in connection with the attacks, but he could not be positively identified, said Lieutenant Colonel Jacobs.

“The taxi driver was, however, wanted for an unrelated case that was reported at Fish Hoek police station.”