RA EVAB
18-03-2002, 19:06
Nightmare ride
Helen Coetzee
Cape Town - A motorist, who hit a pedestrian outside Somerset West at the weekend, drove on for several kilometres before realising that half of the pedestrian's body was lying on the back seat of his car.
The 29-year-old motorist from Somerset West was travelling on the R44 between Stellenbosch and Somerset West opposite Happy Vale farm on Saturday about 19:30 when he heard a thud and realised he had hit something. He didn't stop as he felt it wasn't safe to do so on the deserted road.
His front windscreen had been smashed and he was afraid the car would stall. Shocked and bloody, he stopped at a house in Somerset West after the car caught fire.
Someone at the house helped him to douse the flames and offered to take him to the police to report the incident. When the motorist went to fetch his belongings from the car, he found a torso on the backseat. He reported it to police.
Meanwhile, employees of Happy Vale on Sunday called police to the scene of the accident, where the bottom part of the body had been found.
Police said it seemed as if the pedestrian, Sylvester Martin of Happy Vale, had been torn in two on impact. The torso of the body had been thrown through the front window without the motorist realising it and landed on the back seat.
Inspector Anneke van der Vyver said in Somerset West that a case of culpable homicide had been opened and the incident was not being treated as a hit-and-run accident.
"The motorist had a huge fright. He didn't know what he had hit. He was afraid to stop the car on a quiet, dark road. He reported it to the police at the first opportunity," she said.
Helen Coetzee
Cape Town - A motorist, who hit a pedestrian outside Somerset West at the weekend, drove on for several kilometres before realising that half of the pedestrian's body was lying on the back seat of his car.
The 29-year-old motorist from Somerset West was travelling on the R44 between Stellenbosch and Somerset West opposite Happy Vale farm on Saturday about 19:30 when he heard a thud and realised he had hit something. He didn't stop as he felt it wasn't safe to do so on the deserted road.
His front windscreen had been smashed and he was afraid the car would stall. Shocked and bloody, he stopped at a house in Somerset West after the car caught fire.
Someone at the house helped him to douse the flames and offered to take him to the police to report the incident. When the motorist went to fetch his belongings from the car, he found a torso on the backseat. He reported it to police.
Meanwhile, employees of Happy Vale on Sunday called police to the scene of the accident, where the bottom part of the body had been found.
Police said it seemed as if the pedestrian, Sylvester Martin of Happy Vale, had been torn in two on impact. The torso of the body had been thrown through the front window without the motorist realising it and landed on the back seat.
Inspector Anneke van der Vyver said in Somerset West that a case of culpable homicide had been opened and the incident was not being treated as a hit-and-run accident.
"The motorist had a huge fright. He didn't know what he had hit. He was afraid to stop the car on a quiet, dark road. He reported it to the police at the first opportunity," she said.