Zinhle Nontenja is lucky to be alive after surviving a near-death experience at the hands of her ex-boyfriend of eight months. The 23-year-old from Orange Farm was assaulted until she was unconscious, doused with paraffin, set light and left for dead during a fight early this year. She was rescued from the burning room covered in flames by her neighbours who heard her pleading for help and was rushed to hospital where she was in a coma for four months.

 ACCESS TO HIS PHONE

All this was because she suspected that he was cheating and refused her access his cellphone. Zinhle explained that she met her former lover while vulnerable after separating from her long-term boyfriend. "I was vulnerable and still trying to find myself again after ending the abusive relationship; I promised myself I would never endure another abusive relationship. I disclosed my stance very early in the relationship and like a lion covered in sheep skin; he promised me the world and protection." She says In the beginning, he was the perfect gentleman and treated her like a queen, something that she always wanted.

CRACKS IN THE RELATIONSHIP 

She added that she saw the cracks in the relationship started when he started cheating and would spend his nights out in the streets and would not disclose his location.He started refusing her access to his cellphone and while out he would not take her phone calls and started acting out of character, without any explanation. "Even when I visited him, he would go out and only return in the middle of the night and refuse to tell me where he was and would not want to share the bed with me. He turned into a stranger,' she added.

 PAY FOR HIS CRIME

Zinhle suspected her boyfriend was cheating on her and decided to compile evidence to support her suspicions.On May 28 during her visit, she demanded to access his cellphone, and in his defence, he started assaulting her and claiming that she was disrespecting her. He assaulted her until she was unconscious. "She doused my body with paraffin and set me alight and left me to die." she recalls. Zinhle woke-up four months later in hospital, having sustained third-degree burns, 90 per cent of her body burned. "I could not recognise myself in the pictures and barely remembered what had happened,' she explained. The victim of GBV explained it pained her that three months after she she opened a case of attempted murder against her ex-boyfriend, he was still roaming the streets as a free man. But he has since been arrested.         "It was painful hearing my friends and family telling me that they saw him in the township and he was continuing with his life while my life was turned upside down. All I want is for him to pay for the crime so I can fully focus on my healing in peace,' she added.T