This incident happened close to the railway line in Tassenberg Street, Witfield, on April 18 around noon.
According to the boy’s mother, Ramona Andhee, the men also took her son’s cellphone that was hidden in his pocket and then ran away by jumping into the sewer pipe that runs along the railroad.
Both men, who are in their early twenties, were allegedly caught in the pipe by security officers. The men were then arrested by the SAPS.
Even though the men have been arrested, the boy’s phone was not found.
According to Coetzer, a case of common robbery has been opened, but no one has been charged yet.
The case is being investigated by Det WO Sam Seema from the Boksburg North SAPS.
However, before this incident, the same two men allegedly attempted at breaking into an elderly couple’s house in 1st Street.
The residents of the house, as well as the domestic worker, were present at the time of the attempted burglary, and heard someone breaking the window.
Apparently, the domestic worker shouted for the intruders to go away, while the elderly lady pressed the panic button.
The intruders managed to runaway and fled to Tassenberg Street, which is right around the corner from 1st Street and where they assaulted the boy.
Since blood spatter was found on the boy’s jacket, it is uncertain whether the blood from one of the perpetrators came into contact with the boy’s wounds; the boy now has to be on Anti-Retroviral (ARV) medication for the next 28 days.
“The guy had a cut on his wrist from breaking the window of the house they tried to get in. It was bleeding quite a lot,” says Andhee.
Due to the severe side effects of the medication, he is unable to attend school.
“So far he has experienced bad headaches; sometimes he gets very dizzy and can’t walk properly without almost falling over,” says Andhee.
The boy will undergo blood tests to determine whether the ARVs damaged his liver on May 2.
Thereafter, he will have to go for approximately four more tests.
“Only after six months the results will show whether he’s got HIV,” says Andhee.
