Africa-Press – South-Africa. A 61-year-old Mpumalanga man handed himself over to the police after he allegedly stabbed his 59-year-old partner multiple times after an argument, used a garden fork to bludgeon her over her head and poured boiling water over her.
It is alleged that he later locked the woman and her sister in their home, set it alight and fled.
The man, Matsobane Seema, appeared in the Mbibana Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday on charges of attempted murder, arson and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The case was postponed and he remains in custody.
According to Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, the man’s partner and her sister lived in the same house with him.
Two days before Christmas, in the early hours of the morning, the partner tried to kick Seema out of the house after an argument between them had turned ugly.
“He allegedly refused to leave, and they then slept in separate bedrooms for that night. The victim reportedly slept with her sister in the same bedroom.
Mohlala said:
When the sister tried to intervene, he allegedly “pushed her away until she was powerless”.
“Then the suspect also poured [boiling water over] the victim… As if that was not enough, the suspect set the house on fire whilst all doors were locked with the two siblings still inside. He then fled the scene,” Mohlala said.
Community members rescued the women after they heard their screams.
“…they managed to break down the burglar proofs of the bedroom windows in order to set them free from the flames. The two victims were taken to hospital for medical attention whilst the Fire and Rescue workers managed to extinguish the fire.”
Mohlala added that Seema only handed himself over to the Vaalbank police station on Tuesday – after Christmas and New Year.
Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela welcomed the arrest.
However, she said she was disappointed that although police had urged people to say no to gender-based violence, a senior citizen who is supposed to set an example for young people, was accused of such a crime.
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