Karen Landi uses horrific hijacking ordeal to bring hope to South Africans
Karen Landi almost lost her life through a horrible hijack, but she has not allowed the traumatic experience to dim her light.
Car hijacking continues to be a major problem in South Africa. According to a report by Wheels24, there were 16 325 carjackings between 2017 and 2018.
One woman who was recently a victim of hijacking is Karen Landi. Landi was hijacked on Thursday, September 27 on her way to a Bosco Youth Camp by three men pretending to be police officers.
In an interview with the Good Things Guy on Jacpod, Landi shared the devastating and traumatic experience of how she almost lost her life to hijacking.
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE:
“Up behind me came a white car, I think it was a Golf, and they had the flashing blue lights in the windscreen and a siren, and I thought what now because I knew I wasn’t speeding.”
"I am a law-abiding citizen and if I see a policeman or policewoman or roadblock, I’m very respectful and grateful that they are doing their job. I’m always cooperative in situations like that,” says Landi.
But her stopping was the beginning of what would be the most terrifying experience of her life.
“The first mistake was I stopped, second mistake was I rolled down my window too much,” says Landi who then explains how three men gained entry into her car using the window. She says they started beating her up and pushed her to the back of her car where they forced her to lie down.
They then demanded R5 000 and her tracker details. When Landi told them she had no tracker, they assaulted her until she bled. She says they then drove to a gravel road where they pushed her face in the sand, demanding her tracker details. The men also hit her head with a rock and threatened to rape her.
After fighting with them and refusing to cooperate when the men wanted to rape her, the men decided to leave her and drove off with the car.
Landi was forced to walk with blood streaming down her face and her eyes swollen, to seek help. She was helped by a man called Fortune.
She says although she suffered such a traumatic experience, she has not allowed this to stop her from having faith in South Africa and refuses to change the way she sees South Africa.
“Three bad men don’t define a nation, and I know that,” she told The Good Things Guys.
“Good will always prevail over evil and in the darkness, there will always be light, and we need to ensure that we are the light for other people,” she adds.
"My hope is that if a collective of people could get together with CPFs and those who are so active in different areas and create safe spaces,"
She adds that if a car pulls you off, rather acknowledge that you have seen the car, but drive on and only stop at a safe place where it is lit, like a petrol station.