Alison Botha Survives Rape, Disembowelment, Near Decapitation

On December 18, 1994, 27-year-old Alison Botha was abducted near her home in South Africa. She was raped, stabbed, and disemboweled before the attackers, a pair of men known by the media as the Ripper Rapists, left her for dead. She survived.

Botha’s attackers stabbed her more than 30 times, nearly decapitating her.

A Night Out With Friends

It all started with an innocent night out with friends. Botha drove back to her Port Elizabeth apartment with her friends. They enjoyed pizza, games, and conversation for a short time. When the night ended, Botha drove the last friend home. Immediately after returning to the apartment and parking her car, a man armed with a knife forced himself inside the car, ordering Botha to another seat. She was trapped.

Sitting in the driver's seat, the man drove to pick up an accomplice. The men had big plans for the frightened woman.

Men Attack Botha

The men -Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger-took Botha to a deserted area on the outskirts of town. She told them she would not resist the rape, hoping her submissiveness would help her survive the attack. The men took turns raping her before they slashed her throat so deeply that it nearly decapitated her head from her body. The pair disemboweled Botha, then left her for dead.

They suffocated her with a bag until she passed out, but did not die. The men decided to stab Botha, inflicting more than 30 wounds to the abdomen. The woman later said the men were fixated on removing her organs.

Her leg twitched, signaling she was alive. The men weren't finished. They slit her throat 16 different times, nearly decapitating it from her body. She did not die, but the men fled the scene, assuming she could not possibly survive the brutality they’d inflicted on her.

Botha suspected she would die. She wrote with her finger, “I love mom,” and the names of her attackers in the dirt beneath her.

Botha did not die; instead, she found the courage to fight for her life. She wanted to survive, later saying, “My life was too valuable to let go of.”

Botha Fights to Survive

Botha saw headlights on the roadway beneath the bushes. As she attempted to pull herself toward the road, she realized how severe the injuries were. Her head flung backward and she felt slime oozing from her abdomen. The “slime” was her intestines.

With one hand covering her organs so they didn’t spill out and the other holding up her head, Botha struggled to make it to the light. After seeing white lines indicating she was on the roadway, Botha fell unconscious.

A young man named Tiaan Eilerd spotted the severely wounded woman soon thereafter. The veterinary student stopped his vehicle and used his training to put Botha’s thyroid back inside her body. Eilerd called emergency services and did what he could for the injured woman.

“God put me on that road that night for a reason,” Eilerd later told reporters.

Doctors Shocked at the Sight They Saw

Doctors were shocked when they saw Botha. Dr. Alexander Angelov said he’d never seen such injuries in his 16 years practicing medicine.

On the brink of death, Botha underwent surgery and survived the attack. She even provided the police with significant details about her attackers, leading to the arrest of the Ripper Rapists.

Arrests & Conviction

Police captured du Toit and Kruger and charged them with several crimes, including attempted murder, kidnapping, and rape. Both were convicted and sentenced to life in prison in August 1995.

Botha Wins Awards

In 1995, Botha won the prestigious Rotarian Paul Harris Award for “Courage Beyond the Norm” and Femina magazine’s “Woman of Courage” award. She was also honored as Port Elizabeth’s “Citizen of the Year.”

She hosts a podcast and has written two books. The movie "Alison" depicts her story.