A 22-year-old woman is in critical condition in a hospital after reportedly being set on fire by her 34-year-old male companion in Carolina, Mpumalanga.
During the event, the man is reported to have spilled flammable liquid on the woman before being saved by her neighbours.
“The woman is currently fighting for her life in hospital,” said Mpumalanga police spokesperson, Colonel Donald Mdhluli.
“Meanwhile the men and women in blue responded swiftly, where they traced and arrested the male suspect, few hours later.”
According to the police report, in the early hours of Tuesday, at around 3am, neighbours were woken up by the noise of a woman screaming for help.
“When they went out to investigate, they saw a woman in agony, inside the flames of fire whilst her male companion was busy pouring her with some liquid from a two-litre container,” Mdhluli said.
“When he realised that the neighbours were coming to her rescue, the man abandoned what he was doing then fled the scene. The neighbours did their best to extinguish the fire while the female victim was taken to hospital for medical treatment.”
Police were alerted about the incident and a case of attempted murder has since been opened.
“Police immediately commenced with the investigation, leading to the suspect being apprehended on the same day of the incident, in the evening of Tuesday,” he said.
On Thursday, the accused man is scheduled to appear in Mpumalanga’s Carolina Magistrate’s Court on attempted murder allegations.
Meanwhile, Major General Zeph Mkhwanazi, the acting provincial commissioner of police in Mpumalanga, has reaffirmed that incidences of gender-based violence are serious and urgent for the police.
“We are really disturbed by these types of incidents of violence perpetuated against women during August month where we celebrate women. The swift arrest of the suspect is well commended and we hope that justice will be served for the victim,” said Mkhwanazi.
“This shows our commitment to deal decisively with crime against women and children. We wish a speedy recovery to the victim.”
On Monday, HowSouth reported that police in Levubu, Limpopo’s Vhembe district, had opened an inquiry into a tragic event in which a 27-year-old man allegedly hacked his wife to death with an axe before killing himself.
According to Ledwaba, the event took place at the couple’s home in Ha-Mashau Misevhe hamlet on Saturday evening.
