Assaulted, stabbed with a garden fork, poured with hot water before her house was set alight. This is what one 59-year-old gogo went through in the hands of her 61-year-old lover when she asked him to leave her house. According to the police, the couple was staying in the woman's house together with the victim's sister. It is alleged that on 23 December 2022 around 2AM, the suspect, Matsobane Seema had an argument with his partner. 

REFUSING TO LEAVE

Mpumalanga SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said the fight turned ugly and the victim reportedly asked Seema to leave her house but the madala refused. They then slept in separate bedrooms for that night. Mohlala said the victim reportedly slept with her sister in another bedroom. Shortly the suspect allegedly went into their room and stabbed her multiple times with a knife on her right upper body, then further struck her on the head with a garden fork. When the sister tried to intervene, the suspect allegedly pushed her away until she was powerless." Mohlala added.

LEFT TO BURN 

Seema poured the victim with boiling water and then set the house on fire whilst all doors were locked with the two siblings still inside."Seema  then fled the scene leaving the siblings to burn. They screamed for help and community members came to their rescue where they managed to breakdown the burglar proofs of the bedroom windows in order to set them free from the flames. The two  were taken to hospital for medical attention whilst the fire and rescue workers managed to extinguish the fire," Mohlala said.

ARREST

While police were conducting their investigation and in pursuit of the man behind this gruesome act, Seema reportedly handed himself over to the Vaalbank police station on the 3rd of January. He appeared briefly before the Mbibana Magistrate's Court on Wednesday where he was remanded in custody. He faces charges of attempted murder, arson and assault GBH.  The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has welcomed the arrest. The General is however disappointed that after many occasions police are warning people to say no to Gender Based Violence, but a senior citizen who is supposed to shed light to young people is behaving in this manner.