A gang of home invaders threatened to kill a 5-year-old girl by roasting her in an oven if her parents did not relinquish valuables during a robbery in Verulam.

The men stormed the house in Old Inanda Road and held the family at gunpoint before issuing the jarring threat.

Reaction Unit South Africa spokesman Prem Balram said that four men had managed to force their way into the house on Tuesday.

“One of the men was armed with a handgun. They demanded to be shown the safe and threatened to roast the daughter of one of the victims in the oven if they failed to comply‚” he said.

The shocked victims quickly led the home invaders to a safe in a bedroom.

“They ripped the safe off the wall with a spade and then restrained the victims with the use of cable ties and nylon ropes‚” Balram said.

The child was not injured during the robbery.