Cops pull off daring stunt to rescue woman
Published: July 28, 2006
Two Durban policemen pulled off a daring and dangerous rescue of a woman intent on taking her life on Wednesday.
The Inanda woman is undergoing psychiatric treatment after attempting suicide twice this week.
As the woman stood on a window ledge on the ninth floor of a flat at The Gables on Victoria Embankment, Sergeant Ryan Charlton and Inspector Troy Allison of Search and Rescue Services abseiled down to her, grabbed her and took her into the flat where she is a domestic worker.
She had threatened to throw herself out of the window because she believed her mother and sister had bewitched her.
Her rescue came after hours of unsuccessful negotiations by emergency rescue officials and Pastor Asanda Qangule.
Police had to keep an eye on traffic as curious onlookers and motorists stopped to watch the drama play out.
While some people screamed “don’t jump”, others urged the woman to jump.
Speaking after the rescue, Qangule told the Daily News that the woman had also tried to kill herself on Tuesday night, but had been saved by residents of the building.
“She ran around the building and then on to the streets into oncoming traffic, but was rescued by friends.
“They pulled her into a car to pray for her and then took her back to the flat at which she works.”
Of on Wednesday’s incident, Qangule said the woman had climbed out on to the window ledge when her mother and sister had come to visit her.
“When they came to visit her, she asked her boss why they had come to Durban, because she believes they are practising witchcraft on her.
“When they entered the flat, she became hysterical and climbed out of the window,” he said.
“She was constantly screaming at us and speaking in different voices,” he said.
The woman’s sister said she was shocked at the way the woman had reacted when she arrived with her mother. The operational commander at the scene of the incident, said the woman was being treated at Addington Hospital.
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