The police officer who allegedly burnt to death his fiancée and her baby, has died under police guard in a Durban hospital, according to SAfm.
Earlier today The Mercury reported that the 32-year-old constable from the Durban Port Security Service had been badly burnt after he started a fire that killed his son Lungelo and Bonisiwe Violla Mthembu, a mother of three children.
Mthembu, 32, died at her parents’ home in Inanda, north of Durban. Her two daughters, Amanda and Mbali, aged three and 10, were not injured.
For seven hours, Mthembu had locked herself in her bedroom to hide away from her fiancé, who allegedly tried to attack her several times with a firearm.
Mthembu’s younger sister, Ntombizodwa, told The Mercury that she had just handed young Lungelo to her mother in the bedroom when the man started the fire at Mthembu’s house at 8pm after breaking a back window and entering.
On hearing her sister crying for help, Ntombizodwa and other family members rushed to try to save her.
“I forced the door open and saw my sister covered in flames.
“I tried to save her by pulling her out of the room, but (the man) doused me with the petrol. I escaped as he was striking a match,” said Ntombizodwa.
She said she later saw the man burning.
Neighbours helped to put the fire out before the badly burnt bodies of Mthembu and Lungelo were found. The constable was found with injuries and taken to hospital.
Mthembu’s elder sister, Nhlanhla Mthembu, said her sister and the constable had been in a relationship for the past four years, and had been living together at his nearby house. But she moved back with her parents a few months ago. Family members believed he had been frustrated by financial problems.
“They had been in the process of finalising wedding preparations. He had paid bride price although they had not finalised the wedding date,” said Nhlanhla. - IOL, The Mercury