Wednesday, 22 February 2017

PMB woman loses faith in police

A young woman tells her tale of domestic abuse.
A Pietermaritzburg woman who is allegedly continually being violently abused by a former partner said she has now lost faith in the police.
This comes after an incident where the police jailed the woman when she threw a shoe at the man in self-defence.
The woman, whose identity has been withheld, said her ordeal at the hands of her former boyfriend, has been going on for years.
The man is the father of her two-year-old child.
The woman said despite taking him to court in July last year for assault, he simply continues to ignore the court’s warning to stay away from her. 
According to the woman, the man was given a suspended sentence on conditions that he does not assault her again and that he should attend a rehabilitation programme for alcoholism and seek counselling.
A friend of the victim said they do not understand why the man was only charged for assault, as he has allegedly declared he is going to kill her and should have been charged with attempted murder.
The victim said she believes laying charges against her abuser has put her life even further at risk instead of helping her situation.
She said after the court case, the man showed up twice to the counselling sessions, and both times he was drunk.
Police spokesperson Musa Ntombela said the police were investigating a case of assault against the man.

Lifeline domestic violence programme manager, Lungile Mkhonza, said in her experience, most police stations take domestic violence cases too lightly.

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