WINDHOEK - Blind folded, gagged, hands bound, held at gun-point is what a 64-year-old woman went through when three unknown men allegedly abducted her from her home in Windhoek North.
The incident took place on Monday.

Maria Snyer, who was home alone in the back-yard room she shares with her husband, heard a knock on her door and upon opening the door, three men stood in front of her demanding they leave with her immediately.
Snyer said she refused and the three men forcefully grabbed her.  She pleaded with them to change her clothes as she was still wearing her pyjamas - which they allowed her to do.

Snyer’s husband had left for work around 04h00 and it seems other occupants at the erven had left the gate unlocked, allowing the men to sneak into her yard.

The pensioner related her ordeal through her grandson Jurgen Coetzee, who assisted with the translation from Afrikaans to English. Snyer kept communicating with Coetzee while abducted as the men allowed her to use her cellphone briefly.
After being driven from a garage in Kleine Kuppe, Snyer jumped out of the car along Quteniqua Street in Eros when she saw a security guard walking on the road towards the car which was parked close to a riverbed. 

With blindfolds removed and the three men outside the vehicle, Snyer told herself that she was going to plan even if they had to shoot her. “I moved to the right side of the door and started banging on the window when I saw the guard. I threw myself in the road,” related Snyer who added the security guard grabbed her. 

She said the man who sat with her in the back seat with a gun pointed at her, turned around the car and pointed the firearm at them.   “But after seeing the two other men got into the car he also got in the car and drove away,” Snyer added.  A traumatised Snyer said she was scared to leave her residence to even go and shop for basics.

Of the three men, Snyer said two are tall and look like they are in their early 30’s. She said another man is short and chubby.  They wore big dark glasses, she remembers. Snyer said they drove a new model white Corolla.

When the men took her from her home, she sat in the back seat, blind folded, gagged and a gun pointed to her ribs.
Snyer added the men took her to a garage at a residence in Kleine Kuppe and the short man introduced himself, as Engelbrecht and she should ask her husband about him.  She further said one of the men told her that Engelbrecht will round up an amount of money which her (Snyer’s) husband must pay by Saturday.
But her husband said he doesn’t recall such a name and does not owe anyone.

From Kleine Kuppe, the men took off the blind folds and she recognised a hotel and called her grandson but the call was abruptly ended. At the garage, the men kicked her on her thigh and hit her with a gun on her back, said Snyer.
The men said they were driving her out of Windhoek to Seeis but seems they changed their mind and drove to Eros. 
At this point, they put the blind fold again.  Her son called her again but couldn’t get much information as the call was cut again.

Coetzee only received a call later when the grandmother called and handed the phone to the security guard to give direction to the street where she jumped out of the vehicle.

Coetzee who works for a local security firm, urged the elderly to keep their doors locked at all time when at home.
City Police Senior Superintended Gerry Shikesho confirmed the case. Shikesho said they are involved as they attended to the incident but handed the case to the Namibian police for further investigation. 

Khomas Regional Police Crime Investigation Coordinator, Deputy Commissioner Abneer Agas said a case of kidnapping has been opened. He said no arrest has been made and police investigation continues.