A woman had her eye removed after a catcaller she ignored threw a brick across her face and left it “smashed” and “in pieces” - and she's furious he hasn't been arrested.<br /><br />Nikita Kalubi, 25, was running errands with her boyfriend when she claims a stranger came up to her and started remarking on her looks.<br /><br />She says she ignored him, and he went away but minutes later she saw him again at the end of a passage and he threw a brick across her face and ran away.<br /><br />The attack left Nikita’s left eye so damaged she had to have it removed and is now waiting for a prosthetic eye.<br /><br />The model and influencer says she struggles to look in the mirror and has wants to put a stop to street harassment.<br /><br />Nikita, from Somerset West, Western Cape, South Africa, said: “This man came up to me and starts making remarks about how beautiful I am.<br /><br />“I ignored it. Strangers told him to stop and eventually he did.<br /><br />“We started walking away.<br /><br />“My boyfriend was behind me, and I saw the guy again with his hands behind his back.<br /><br />“Then he threw a brick across my face and ran away.<br /><br />“I remember the pain.<br /><br />“I felt the brick just smash across my face.<br /><br />“I was told the eye is severely damaged and in pieces.<br /><br />“It wouldn’t ever function again.<br /><br />“I loved how I looked - I had big, beautiful eyes.<br /><br />“Now I cry every time I look at myself.”<br /><br />Nikita was attacked in Cape Town on August 26, 2023, while out getting food for a game night with friends.<br /><br />She said: “He got close to throwing himself on me.”<br /><br />Strangers told the man to leave Nikita alone, but she and her boyfriend felt unsettled and decided to head back.<br /><br />They were walking through a passage when she claims the man reappeared and threw a brick across her face.<br /><br />She said: “I fell and hit my head and fell unconscious.”<br /><br />Nikita was rushed to Khayelitsha Hospital, Cape Town, before being transferred to Tygerberg Hospital where a specialist looked at her eye.<br /><br />She said: “I remember asking ‘will I be able to see with my eye?’<br /><br />“I knew something really wrong had happened.”<br /><br />Nikita was told her eye was so damaged she would need it removed but her mum, Veronica Kalubi, 46, wanted to get a second opinion.<br /><br />They went to Bosamed Hospital but were told nothing could be done.<br /><br />Veronica, a former hotel manager, said: “It was damaged beyond repair.<br /><br />“The gel of the eye was splattered and out of the eye socket.<br /><br />“It splattered into small pieces and the white part was smashed.”<br /><br />Nikita had an operation on August 29, 2023, to drain the blood and pieces of the eye and clean up the socket ready for a prosthetic.<br /><br />She had a further surgery to fix her broken nose so she could breathe properly.<br /><br />Nikita is now waiting to be measured for a prosthetic, but the treatment has already cost Veronica her life savings – costing 56,000 rand.<br /><br />Nikita said: “It’s hard to come to terms with - looking at myself in the mirror.<br /><br />“I now have to navigate life differently.<br /><br />“This is a disability now.”<br /><br />Nikita hopes sharing her story can give others strength and help stop street harassment.<br /><br />She said: “I’m grateful I’m able to share my story.<br /><br />“One lady told me – ‘you speaking out is giving me so much strength’.<br /><br />“We’re used to it [catcalling].<br /><br />“That’s why that day I ignored it.<br /><br />“We don’t realise how messed up it is.<br /><br />“Women can end up dead or raped.<br /><br />“It’s not OK.<br /><br />“I don’t feel safe anywhere.”<br /><br />Veronica added: “All she did was go out with friends.<br /><br />“And left with no eye.”<br /><br />The family are raising money for Nikita’s recovery here - https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/zizipho-nikita-kalubi-5705193209618046482<br /><br />South African Police Service confirmed an investigation has been opened and no arrests have been made.
