Alison Botha was a victim of the Noordhoek Ripper Trials, which rocked South Africa in the 1990s.
Who exactly is Alison Botha?
Alison Botha was a 27-year-old insurance broker when she was kidnapped, raped, and seriously injured. Botha was left on the outskirts of town by his assailants. But he regained consciousness and made it to the next street, where he was rescued by a passing vet. For rape, kidnapping, and attempted murder, offenders are identified and sentenced to life imprisonment. Botha later became a motivational speaker. She also received the 1995 Paul Harris Rotarian Award for ‘Courage Beyond the Norm,’ Femina magazine’s ‘Women of Courage,’ and Port Elizabeth’s ‘Citizen of the Year’. Alison, a documentary film based on her debut book, was released in 2016.
Alison Botha was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa on 22 September 1967. After her parents separated when she was ten, she was raised by her mother and her 18-month-old brother Neale. She attended the Collegiate High School for Girls in Port Elizabeth, where she graduated as the top girl in 1985. She then traveled for several years and worked as an insurance broker.
Kidnapping, rape, and attempted murder
Botha returned home after dropping off a colleague at 1 a.m. on a December day in 1994. He couldn’t find a parking spot in his usual spot, so he went to another parking lot within walking distance of his home. An unknown man threatened him with a knife when he tried to get out of his vehicle. He urges her to follow him and hands over the vehicle keys.
The man told her that if she obeyed his instructions and only needed the car for a short time, he would not hurt her. He drives Botha to a quiet suburb, where he picks up another. They raped her and strangled her to knock her out after stopping somewhere where no one would find them. They proceeded to stab him repeatedly in the stomach, remove his stomach, and finally cut his throat. When he woke up, he didn’t know what happened to him. “All I could see was an arm moving over my face,” he said, paraphrasing. He then recalled the horrific scene without pain, making it seem like a dream.
“I was outside the car, now on sand and broken glass,” he said, “and all I could see was an arm moving over my face.” Left and right, left and right, left and right. Its movement creates sound. It was a wet sound, the sound of my skin being sliced open. He used a knife to cut my neck. “Many times.”
“It looks real, but it’s not.” I didn’t feel pain, but it wasn’t a dream. This is happening. “The man cut my throat,” said Botha, “and I was completely aware of the fear and horror that ran through every nerve in my body.” I shifted to my front as the men left and I heard their words drifting away from me. There was a strange scratching sound.”
Only then did Botha realize that the rasping sound was coming from his own throat. He tried to stop his body from making that sound because he was afraid they would hear him alive if he was too loud.
How did he succeed?
After slitting his neck 15 times, the two men were sure he was dead and no one in such a state could live. He heard the man talking, so he pretended to be dead until they drove away. Botha, on the other hand, is only 27 years old. He wants to achieve more in life and does not want to die. “At that point, I knew I had to at least leave a clue as to who did this to me, so I wrote their names in the sand and ‘I love you Mom’ underneath,” she said on her deathbed. There is so much more I want to achieve, so much more I want to live.”
First, Botha used his blood to write the man’s name on a stone which he placed and prepared to stand on. He found his internal organs on the surface of his body while moving. Nevertheless, Botha chose to stand.
“It’s time to go. I crawled over mud and broken glass, one hand holding onto my clothes. I was getting more and more tired with each subsequent movement. “At one point, I collapsed on the sand, exhausted,”
Botha said, “and as I struggled forward, my vision faded in and out, and I fell many times but managed to get up again until I finally reached the road.”
He gathered his clothes from his side, covered his stomach with one hand, straightened his head with the other, and continued to the nearest street hoping that someone would find him.
“I pulled my head forward with my free hand and my vision returned, at least temporarily,” he said. As I worked ahead, my vision went in and out, and I fell several times but managed to get back up until I reached the road.”
Botha wanted to give up and die many times because of the intensity of the effort and pressure. Every time he tried to do so, he was reminded of his mother. “But then I remembered my mother, and I knew I had to keep going.” So I pulled myself up and crawled again, but it was taking too long. “I knew that I had to get back up,” he reflected.
Who saved him?
Tiaan Eilerd, a veterinary student from Johannesburg on holiday, happened to see him lying on the road. He kept him until medical help came after seeing him alive and conscious. When the medical team and Eilerd arrived at the hospital, the medics were shocked because they had never seen such damage on a living individual. Botha was found with 36 knife wounds to his stomach, 17 cuts to his neck, and numerous sexual assaults. He survived, however, because none of the lesions reached his arteries and his trachea was intact, allowing him to breathe adequately.
Following the operation, Botha identified the culprit. They were found to be Satanists called Theuns Kruger and Frans du Toit. They allegedly performed a ritual on it as a sacrifice to Satan. The details of his crimes and survival shocked the nation, and his trial was dubbed the Noordhoek Ripper Trial. Despite this, the defendant pleaded guilty to all charges, including kidnapping, rape, and attempted murder. In August 1995, they were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Categories: Biography
Source: SCHOOL TRANG DAI
