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Crime & Accidents News
17 May 2019

Rustenburg – “I struggle to sleep at night. I keep hearing the screams,” said Maria Englezakis in an interview with Platinum Weekly. She, her mother and a friend were brutally attacked on Thursday 2 May.


Maria is an estate agent and was under the impression that she will be showing her brother’s house to prospective buyers when they attacked her. She invited the five ‘buyers’ into the house to have a look around when one of them went to fetch something from the car – presumably a firearm.

The next moment Maria and her friend had a gun pointed at them and were forced to a bedroom where they were tied up.


They attackers then went to fetch Maria’s mother, Sofia Phieros, who was bustling about in the garden at the time. They brutally assaulted the 84-year old woman, tied her up and left her on the floor.
The culprits plundered the house until they found a safe, which they dismantled from the wall and fled the scene in a white Toyota Fortuner.


According to police spokesperson colonel Adéle Myburgh, no arrests have been made and a case of armed robbery is being investigated. “Please be vigilant at all times. In some cases, attackers are well-dressed and versed, disguised and ready to pounce.” 


Maria managed to untie herself and phone her husband who rushed to the scene.


Sophia is currently still in hospital and fighting for her life – in a critical condition. We pray that she gets better soon. 

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