Man shot twice for having ‘outdated’ cellphone with no camera

A South African man who was walking with his girlfriend on Sunday was allegedly shot twice by a suspect because he had an outdated cellphone without fitted camera, local media reports.

At about 00:30 on Sunday, police were stopped by a concerned resident of Tshepisong after he spotted a man who had been shot at.

The police rushed to the scene, where upon arrival, they found the victim reeling in pain and lying on the street. He was bleeding from gunshot wounds. 

According to Captain Solomon Sibiya, the victim was allegedly walking with his girlfriend at about 00:10 on the street when they were accosted by an armed suspect. The suspect held up the couple at gunpoint and demanded cash and their cellphones.

“The victim handed over his cellphone to the suspect. The suspect was not impressed with the cell phone that was not fitted with a camera,” said Sibiya.

“He then fired two shots at the victim and took the girlfriend away, threatening to rape her. She, however, managed to escape before they could reach the nearby bushes,” he added.

The man, who was shot for having an outdated cellphone, was later rushed to hospital in a serious condition. He sustained two gunshot wounds to his upper body.

Station commander of Kagiso Police Brigadier Themba Maduna pleaded with people to refrain from walking late at night and heed the call to comply to the lockdown regulations.

“We are worried that people defy and ignore instructions related to the curfew and thus playing in the hands of ruthless criminals. We wish people could help us fight and minimise crime by taking lockdown regulations seriously,” said Maduna.

Maduna appealed to anyone with the information about the suspect to let them know.