Limpopo woman lives in fear of man following no arrest after reporting alleged abuse to the police
Limpopo woman lives in fear of man following no arrest after reporting alleged abuse to the police
As the country celebrates Freedom Month, a Limpopo woman says she has been living in fear after an incident that left her badly injured, her child dead and her house destroyed.
37-year-old Tshinanne Siobo from Muruwa in Nzhelele, outside Thohoyandou, believes her boyfriend set her one-roomed house on fire while she and her two children were inside.
One of the children died from burn wounds in hospital and her wounds have not yet healed.
Siobo has sought refuge from a fellow resident fearing for her life because the suspect has not yet been arrested.
“Before this incident, I asked them to go and arrest that man but they didn’t. I said to them if they didn’t arrest him, he said he will come and kill us then they ignored me. I was suffering for several years because of that man so I don’t know the freedom and I will never get that freedom, I’m still suffering because they didn’t arrest him,” says Siobo.
Police spokesperson Mamphaswa Seabi says the suspect has disappeared, but they are searching for him.
He confirmed that Siobo opened cases with the police before the incident, but withdrew them.
“The victim had domestic problems with the suspect as early as 2020 she filed the protection order against the suspect after she alleges that she was harassed and abused by the suspect but later on she withdrew cases or charges the suspect has disappeared and police we are investigating,” says Seabi.
Gender-Based Violence | Is South Africa winning the fight against GBV?