A LIMPOPO woman sustained injuries after she was allegedly stabbed and sodomised by an unknown man in the bushes on Wednesday last week.

The 22-year-old woman from Green Farm village said during her ordeal, she could see police with sniffer dogs passing by in vans on the road, but they did not realise that she was being sodomised just metres away from the road.

"If they had released the dogs, they would have found me. Instead, I was helpless and at the mercy of the man," she said.

The woman and a friend were on their way to Madonsi clinic in Giyani from neighbouring Green Farm village when the man appeared. "When he reached us, he hid his face with a hat and demanded money and cellphones."

The women started running, but he caught up with the victim. And when the man realised she was menstruating, he penetrated her in the anus. She said he told her that he was going to kill her after the ordeal.

"I prayed to God to save my life. And when he was done, he had a change of heart and accompanied me to the road," she said.

"But that was after telling me that he was working with other men, and that if I ever reported the case and got him arrested, I would be killed."

The woman went to Malamulele Hospital where she was stitched and then transferred to Mankweng Hospital in Polokwane.

Limpopo police spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Ronel Otto said: "A case of rape was opened but no arrest has been made as yet." Otto did not respond to allegations that police were in the vicinity during the ordeal.

Malamulele police spokesman Warrant Officer Alson Mapindani said the police did comb the area after the case was opened.

"It could be true that she saw the police but they could not see her as she was being held hostage in the bushes."