An attack on yet another elderly couple on a farm near Tsumeb, which had left the elderly man fighting for his life in a Windhoek Hospital, has sent shockwaves through the tiny farming community. Chris Henning (80) and his wife, Meisie (75) were last Saturday morning surprised by gun toting thugs on their farm Bergen, some 30 km outside Tsumeb. The attack that ensued left Chris Henning half-dead, and the wife psychologically shattered. Police suspects that four to six suspects were involved in the attack. According to the Oshikoto Regional Crime Coordinator, Deputy Commissioner Naomi Katjiua, the incident occurred on Saturday between 08:00 to 12:00. The 80-year old Chris Henning was found in a coma on the bathroom floor, after he was beaten consistently outside his house by the intruders. He was tied to the sink in the bathroom, with his hands and feet also tied. Speaking to Namibian Sun at the Windhoek Mediclinic Hospital where Chris battles for his life in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), his wife narrates the horrid details of the attack on the fateful day. “Chris had just gone out of the house to the kraal and I went to the bathroom to wash my face when I saw the two men standing there with guns. They wanted money and kept asking me where the keys for the safe are. But we do not have a safe where we keep money.” She gave them about N$1 200 that Chris had given her the previous day to pay for various items, Meisie related. However this did not satisfy the attackers. According to her, she was slapped on the face and forced into one of the rooms at the farm. The men then proceeded to tie her up on the bed with a piece of curtain. They proceeded to ask her where her husband was. “I told them he was outside and they left.”After some time, returned with Chris and took him to another room before going outside again,” she said. Meisie suspects that they tied his mouth shut and then took him outside where he was beaten up. In the meantime their farm worker, Gertson, arrived at the farm but the thugs took him by surprise and hit over the head. He was also taken to a room and tied up. Meisie suspects that after the severe beating, Chris was then carried back to the bathroom where he was tied up and only found later. By that time, he was probably already in a coma, she said. Meanwhile Gertson managed to untie himself and climb through a small window opening over the door. He first went to Meisie to untie her. “When I saw someone standing in the door, you can’t imagine what was going through my mind. Then I saw that it was Gertson and he told me ‘Misies I am here to untie you.’ By that time it seems that the suspects had taken what they could and run off,” Meisie recalled Because they had also taken Gertson’s shoes he had to run in his socks the few kilometers to the neighbouring farm to get help. On his way, he came across someone with a cellphone and used it to summon the police at Grootfontein. Chris was taken to the hospital at Tsumeb and on Sunday flown to Windhoek where he received an emergency operation. He had bleeding on the brain but doctors say that they are currently satisfied with his condition. The first suspect was arrested on Saturday due to leads that police say they received from the public. The police say it is only a matter of time before more arrests are made. This incident follows shortly after the attack this year in which a commercial farmer, Emanuel Kratzer (74) of the farm Hazeldene near Otjiwarongo, and his domestic worker, Paulina Nuwuses (24), were attacked by three robbers. The Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) recently announced that more than 50 people have been murdered in at least 69 attacks on commercial farms countrywide since 1991, urging famers to step up security. National News Author: WINDHOEK - ELLANIE SMIT 12 hours ago · Like
Posted on: Sat, 27 Jul 2013 08:50:24 +0000
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