A trusted friend of mine receives communication from her local Police Forum and was kind enough to pass the latest warning on to me. Please take the time to read it and comprehend what it says. This could save your life.
This actually happened a few weeks ago on the M3.
It was early evening and a young girl stopped to get petrol. She filled her tank and walked to the store to pay for her petrol. The cashier told her “Don’t pay for your petrol yet…..walk around the store for a while and act as if you’re picking up some other things to buy. A man just got into the back of your car. I’ve called the police and they’re on their way.”
When the police arrived, they found the man in the back seat of the girl’s car and asked him what he was doing. He replied, he was joining a gang and the initiation to join is to kidnap a woman and bring her back to the gang to be raped by every member of the gang. If the woman is still alive by the time they are finished with her then they let her go.
It is rumoured (not yet confirmed) that there is a new gang being formed whose initiation qualifier is as detailed above.
The scary part of this is that because the guy didn’t have a weapon on him. The police can only charge him with trespassing … He’s back on the street and free to try again.
Please be aware of what’s going on around you and if possible your family and friends. LADIES you or one of your family or friends could be the next victim.
Please be careful when leaving your vehicle and make sure it is ALWAYS locked to prevent this from happening to you.
UPDATE 24/03/2009
Right. So we’ve established that the above email is a hoax. Please DO NOT let that detract from the value contained in the information below.
Ladies … I think it is important to read the following info for your own safety.
Things women should know to stay safe:
Please Take the time to read these pointers. There may just be one or two you hadn’t thought of.
- Tip from Tae Kwon Do:
The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do! - If a robber asks for your handbag, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from you … he is probably more interested in your handbag than you and he will go for the handbag. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!
- If you are ever thrown into the boot of a car kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm through the hole and start waving. The driver won’t see you but everybody else will. This has saved lives.
- Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their cheque book, or making a list). DON’T DO THIS! A predator could be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, and attack you. AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE.
- A few notes about getting into your car in a car park:
- Be aware – look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor, and check the back seat.
- If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most attackers surprise their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.
- Look at the car parked on the driver’s side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the shop, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you backout.
- IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)
- ALWAYS take the lift instead of the stairs. Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot.
- If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; and even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN!
- As women, we are naturally sympathetic – STOP IT! It may get you raped, or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked ‘for help’ into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.
Horrible. Just horrible.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?newslett=1&em=187729a1a20090327ah&click_id=13&art_id=nw20090327053852301C436837&set_id=1
@All – read news report below to see we don’t need Urban Legends or Hoaxes in SA they just happen.
At around 9.30pm on Wednesday a 39-year-old man and his girlfriend were sitting in their brand new BMW in Wadeville when five men allegedly approached the vehicle.
“One of the men knocked on the window with a firearm and told them to get out of the car,” said Benoni cluster police spokesperson Constable Gordin Nyathi.
Once the couple emerged from the car, the five men allegedly forcefully pushed them into the boot of the car and drove off.
The couple were then driven to an open veld in Ivory Park where they were allegedly searched and cellphones, wallets and jewellery were stolen.
The four men then allegedly took turns raping the woman while the fifth man stood guard with the woman’s boyfriend 10 meters away.
QED
Thanks Diago. I’m glad the point was not lost on you.
I am often amazed at how much time can be spent debating the validity of a point or the truth of a matter. If any person could not read this, truth or not, and realise the importance of being aware of your surroundings and taking in seriousness the tips given in this post they have missed the whole point of the entry. It actually reminds me as to why I have stopped blogging about anything remotely serious and have also switched off comments. Nice posts J, and thanks for at least highlighting that it is a hoax. I often wonder why fiction writers are the only one’s that can get away with printing lies 😐
@Mom As I “succinctly” put it.
@Steve – In theory I agree with you but if you were looking for a potential victim and you had the choice between a 90kg male and a 55kg female who would you go for? It is all a question of perception.
Dad – luv your response! Some indeed do live with their heads up their bums, as you so plainly put it, they are aware of what is happening around them, but choose to go into total denial and believe that it will and can never happen to them! Crap – we don’t have the luxury of ever letting our guard down and the more precautions taken in our “crime pays” society the more chance we have of surviving intact. These gun toting wannabees don’t care a rat’s ass who they intimidate, terrorise or rape, as long as get what they want and we’re all in the same boat, have the same chances of it happening to us!! It’s not “fear-mongering” to try and make people aware of what goes on around them – it’s empowering them with choices – they can then either choose to stick their heads in the sand or be responsible and become aware and cautious at all times – this goes for men as well as woman – but it’s the women and children who are the most vulnerable and usually take the brunt of the most brutal crimes and as women we should take heed and implement the tips given – they might one day save your life or that of your child or both. Ladies, don’t ask men to understand our special fears ‘cos they don’t – they call it paranoia – it’s only when it happens to their loved ones does the light go on. (Maybe)
… and the elderly, of course.
Well, from my side Steve – the survivors of the hijackings and the sexual assault were all women. And the muggings that touched my life? They were kids. Criminals of *this* nature are far more likely prey on those perceived as weak/vulnerable and that means women and children, no?
But I guess it depends on the type of crime being committed …
I’m not intending to belittle anyone’s fears but in our society where crime is often accompanied by extreme violence and criminals are usually armed, I question the premise that males are that much less vulnerable than females.
Sheesh Po … how awful for you 🙁 Seriously? He wouldn’t acknowledge your fear? Good grief.
Yeah, my personal experience is that my BF was just so unaware. After I got mugged I was scared walking home alone at night, which I had to do every night. He would not even come and meet me and walk with me. So I walked home every night scared. I just couldn’t hammer in to his head that I was vulnerable.
So I think scaremongering is wrong, but yes our fears are justified.
This is true … I’ve had people jumping over my wall to gain access – while I’m at home, in broad daylight!
That was damn scary and it prompted me to get additional security. I’m home alone quite a bit now and as a woman on my own, I really don’t think I can be too careful.
These days, I don’t like to drive alone at night. If I have to, I stay very sharp – I never come to a complete stop, my windows remain closed, I don’t listen to music, and I check my mirrors ALL the time.
I never pull into my driveway if I arrive home and see anyone loitering near my home. I drive around the block and wait till they’re gone.
If I’m out with friends, I make sure there’s a man with us. (This has been a potential life-saver in the past.)
The fears are very real … and perfectly justified.
@Po You know I almost don’t believe that there is such a thing as “scaremongering” when it comes to crime in SA. If they can conceive a new way to commit crime they will do it. How about the latest? In the good (bad) old days burglars would make sure that no one was home when they broke in. Now the opposite is true – they actually want you at home because with a gun it is so much easier to get in and then cause total chaos, fear and terror for their victims.
Dad: good point. I have had this discussion with my boyfriend before and his responses are similar. He just doesn’t get it. Women are vulnerable. I do think this particular story sounds like hoax just from the specific details. But women should always be aware and careful because similar things have happened to people I know.
Scaremongering is no good. But it drove me nuts after I got mugged at knifepoint that my bf was so unconcerned. He has never been robbed, mugged or affected by crime in any way and so he shrugs it off. There needs to be middle ground.
What do we have here – the three monkeys – say no evil, hear no evil, do no evil? I think some of you are living with your heads up your bums. Now days in SA our criminals would not bother to hide in the back seat of a car they just have 4 or 5 of them with guns and go for you when and where ever. As for not having this sort of stuff for gang initiation pity you can’t ask Brett Goldin and his friend about that. How on earth do you create awareness about something without saying what it is you must be aware of. Strange how most of the detractors are male – do they really understand the very real fears of women?
@Nic … I completely understand that talking about solutions, resolutions and outcomes is necessary.
But without a frame of reference, surely that is ineffective?
Is it not important to educate as to WHY that message is being communicated? Will people take notice otherwise? Would it not contribute to people’s understanding of the consequence of their choices (to ignore or to take to heart).
I’ve spent some time at the Rape Crisis Centre recently and the posters they have up there are SHOCKING! They reference horrific crime, stuff I would *never* have thought about without seeing these posters. Does it make me feel helpless? No … quite the opposite, I feel like I have much better understanding of potentially dangerous situations and I therefor feel a whole lot more powerful as a result of this awareness. Is fear involved? Perhaps, to a certain degree … but I would regard it as a healthy emotion that keeps me out of danger. Not terror.
What do you think?
justB[coz] – I think that the way to create awareness without fear is to talk more about the solutions, resolutions and outcomes than focusing on the crime, because we all know that crime exists but what we battle with, and what creates the fear is the feeling of helplessness, so the end bit of our post makes a lot of sense to me. Teach people how to help themselves, how to be aware, but why not teach them more for the lesson than as an act of reactive emotion to a crime? (not talking about you there, more in general).
ChrisM – To answer your question: “is there this special list of “crimes worth talking about”, which you lucky lads have in your grubby paws on? ”
YES – real crimes, not hoaxes that create more hoaxes that perpetuate myth, there is enough truth and sadness out there to not need to create lies. (justB[coz] i know we’ve moved on from that, just clarifying!)
I love reading about these urban legends and hoax emails fooling some people 🙂
Yes, be aware and all that, but also don’t be gullible and post the first warning that you read, it’s things like this that create unnecessary fear in our community.
Mmk … so my intentions were good. But my execution sucked.
Admittedly, I did not check to see that the story was 100% – I am not a journalist and it sounded very credible to me as this type of thing (and far worse) happens every day around us, does it not?
If I had not been personally affected by violent crime, I probably wouldn’t have even bothered with this post. Like many people, I would have thought “This will never happen to me.” (Aside: Sad that we have to be shocked out of rose-tinted naivety to catch a wake up.)
Fear-mongering? Creating awareness?
Where’s the line?
Let’s get past the “hoax” thing – I messed up there and I apologise for that.
Serious question: how do we create awareness without causing fear? How do we get people to realise that there ARE dangers to be on the lookout for and that by staying alert to them, we CAN prevent some crime? Despite my efforts at trying to create some sort of an awareness with them, my kids have been mugged for their phones and bags and bicycles because they were not vigilant.
I really feel that a lot of people have been de-sensitized and/or have become complacent.
*exiting, not exciting. Exciting a car, hmmm 😀
Sorry.
@Dominic & @Nic – So, ultimately, what you are saying is that it’s best we ignore _specific_ situations like this? Or, is there this special list of “crimes worth talking about”, which you lucky lads have in your grubby paws on?
I think it’s quite simple – the message in this post outlines that woman, and men, should not be exciting their cars in the later hours of the evening, but should rather remain inside their cars with the doors locked at all times.
JustB[coz] i too am sorry to hear about the crimes you and your friends have witnessed and experienced.
I wholeheartedly disagree with ChrisM’s statement though, “but with more awareness and more bloggers communicating such scenario’s, we reduce the fear through the awareness.” That is completely misguided. I wrote a post on SA Rocks that South Africans want SA to fail and I think that perpetuating irrational fear embodied in a hoax is completely wrong and does more harm than good.
Crime is crime, no doubt, it is shocking, but I agree with Jo – there is enough truth out there that we need not make and perpetuate lies. Awareness is one way of branding it, fear-mongering is another.
@justB and @ChrisM This creates the wrong sort of awareness. Working in the security industry, you realise that people’s perceptions of what they should be aware of and what they actually need to be aware of are skewed. The problem with this is that the associated defences get screwed so you end up with a mismatch between the actual risks and the defences. Given that us human beings can’t do too many things at once, and that the potential threats are infinite, we need to drown out the unlikely ones and focus on the likely ones, and stuff like this doesn’t help. While some defences cover a range of risks, like generally being aware of your surroundings, other’s don’t, and in some cases could be the opposite of good advice. For example, does throwing your bag, vs calmly handing it to the mugger increase your risk or decrease it, I can imagine a situation where throwing the bag amounts to a sudden movement leading to a gunshot wound.
Read the police stats, visit your policing forum, be aware of the threats, take appropriate and general security measures, but spend more time making sure you don’t light a cigarette next to the running fuel pump than scouring the bushes for back-seat campers.
@justB[coz] I am so sorry to hear about the crime you have witnessed and about your friend 🙁
Sadly SA has enough crime of its own – I just feel we don’t need urban legends to scare us even more.
I agree 100% that it’s important to be vigilant and as I said above, the tips you provided are great.
@Nic – I hear what you’re saying, but regardless of whether it’s a “hoax” or not, it ends up creating awareness – Most of us live in a degree of fear, that’s just unfortunately the way it goes, but with more awareness and more bloggers communicating such scenario’s, we reduce the fear through the awareness. The other alternative would be ignorance and that’s when these things happen. What I do worry about, is why on earth she was getting out the car to pay for her petrol?
Urban legend or no … I have personally witnessed 3 hijackings and a close friend of mine has just been raped at knife-point by four men.
Dismiss or slam this all you want, I have a vested interest in reminding people to be vigilant in this crazy world.
yes, something of this nature is possible, but so is getting eaten by a tiger in the middle of the kalahari, far-fetched, but possible. I agree with Jo – this sort of thing needs to be run through the mill for truth and factual significance, if it’s a hoax all you do is perpetuate a feeling of fear that is sometimes unwarranted.
You quote that ONE incident may have occurred possibly in 1964…in NEW YORK… then that makes this more true for NY than it does for South Africa. Now all that happens is people read this and think SA is a haven for backseat kidnapping rapists. I don’t think posting this is fair or right.
Snopes also has info on this legend.
Like many of these stories from overseas that people try and fit to South African conditions, there are often details that just don’t ring true; in this case “She filled her tank and walked to the store to pay for her petrol.” How many South African petrol stations do you know of that don’t have attendants and require you to fill up yourself and pay in the store? I don’t know of any.
While the security info you give is valid and important, my concern is that people might discount it as well if the realise the story that introduces it isn’t true.
LOL I agree with Jo, it’s an urban legend, just like flashing your lights at a car whose lights are off n then they chase you etc as a gang initiation, I first read these things like 7 YEARS ago, Don’t forget the one at a shopping centre where a guy approaches you about a flat tyre or something – can’t remember right now….anyways moral is always be cautious! ooo but you know, my aunt phoned my mom last night to say this one relative of ours was driving in our area friday evening, and a car full of guys started hooting n swearing at her at the robot then they followed her, n she drove up someone’s driveway n they left.
Hi Jo … it may be a listed as a hoax on that site but I’m pretty sure that something of this nature is all too possible in real life.
In fact, an article on Snopes.com reveals that this may have been derived from a real incident:
“Research shows that one true case of “The Killer in the Backseat” did occur in 1964 in New York City, when an escaped murderer hid in the backseat of a car. The car, ironically, belonged to a police detective who shot the man. Though the differences between the legend and the true occurrence are vast (the real occurrence did not feature a lone female; it didn’t necessarily happen at night; and no third person was involved), the legend may have sprung out of this real incident.”
Great tips on self-protection/defence – but just to put everyone’s mind at rest, the story about the guy in the back of the car is a hoax: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/gang-member-back-seat.html
Hoax Slayer is a great site to check out stories like this to make sure they’re legit.