CIVIL SERVANT HUBBY HACKED ME WITH BUSH KNIFE OVER SEX - WIFE

MANZINI - Gender-based violence (GBV) seems to continue to rear its ugly head, and this time around, the victim is a wife of a government inspector, who was hacked with a bush knife in full view of her 11-year-old son.

*Khwezi (28) is the latest victim who was purportedly, hacked on the head and body by her husband after she refused to engage in sexual intercourse with him. The incident happened at Mbekelweni at around 11pm on Monday. The parties involved in the matter will not be revealed because the husband has not been officially charged by the police.

Conjugal

According to Khwezi, she was traditionally wed in 2013 to her husband, who is an inspector at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development. She alleged that she and her husband had not been enjoying conjugal rights for a while now.  Khwezi narrated that she had been travelling to Witbank, South Africa for a while and would spend time at her husband’s home at Mbekelweni without them engaging in intercourse.  Narrating how the alleged attack unraveled, the wife disclosed that when she got home, her husband communicated that he wanted to have sexual intercourse with her. “I said I could not give it to him because he chose another wife and we had not been having sex for a while. It was then that he demanded to take my phone so that he could see who I was communicating with,” Khwezi alleged.

She revealed that she then decided to wake her son up and packed their bags. She said they set out and were about to reach a certain homestead, when they noted that her husband was following them. The wife alleged that her husband was carrying a bush knife and ordered them to return to the house. Khwezi said she refused as she told her husband that she was uncertain of what he would do to her with the weapon he was carrying. The wife said he told her that he had noticed her social media posts on Facebook, which suggested that she was cheating on him. She said when she tried to move herself away from her husband, he hacked her on the left side of the head. “I quickly tried to compose myself and get up from the ground. At that instance, he struck me with the bush knife again and I tried to shield myself when he hacked me on the arm,” she said.

The wife elaborated that one of her fingers was injured and there was blood oozing out of her wounds. Khwezi claimed that her husband insulted her child and prevented him from reaching out to her. She alleged that they left their luggage and ran away. She said she got to a Shongwe homestead, where she raised the alarm and was assisted. The wife said they used a jersey to cover her injuries and called the police and she was quickly ferried to the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital.

Statement

She relayed that a police officer came to the hospital and recorded a statement. The wife also shared that she would lay charges against her husband, who once allegedly assaulted her in the past. Khwezi said she also reported that incident.  She supposed that her husband was not happy with her travelling to South Africa and being independent from him. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that Khwezi had reported a case of assault. However, she said no arrest had been made and police were investigating the matter.  Meanwhile, One Billion Rising’s Colani Hlatjwayo expressed that such cases were depressing. “You always ask yourself which is the safest place a woman or girl can be, because we are never safe with people who claim to love us,” she lamented.

Hlatjwayo commended the woman for taking the decision to remove herself from the toxic relationship. She said it was unfortunate that she was then attacked. Hlatjwayo said marital rape cases were rife and it was a pity that women were blamed for cheating just because they made decisions with their bodies. She said perpetrators of violence on women should be jailed. She also expressed that it was disheartening that this was done in the presence of a child, who may grow up with anger and vengeance. “It is such a sad situation and we will never end any conversation without saying we feel it is time government declared GBV a national emergency crisis,” she said.

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