Mall stabbing victim warns against abuse

stabbed by her boyfriend Picture: DOCTOR NGCOBO

stabbed by her boyfriend Picture: DOCTOR NGCOBO

Published Jan 25, 2013

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Durban - A Durban woman, allegedly stabbed by her ex-boyfriend this week, has urged victims of abuse to act against their attackers.

The woman, who was helped by shoppers and security guards after the attack at the Galleria Mall, in eManzimtoti, on Wednesday had on several occasions withdrawn charges against her abuser.

Police said a 30-year-old man was expected to appear in the eManzimtoti Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

But it was not the first time the suspect had physically abused and stabbed the victim in public.

The woman said she was once dragged out of a minibus taxi and beaten by the man.

She said her former lover had been arrested and was being held at Westville Prison, while awaiting trial, when she decided to withdraw the charge after he had pleaded with her and promised he would never do it again.

Despite the promise, the woman had been repeatedly assaulted and stabbed. She said on one occasion her abuser had stabbed her with a beer bottle; on another he had stabbed her with a knife and was verbally abusive to her in front of their daughter.

The man had also allegedly broken a window at the woman’s home two weeks ago, leading to her father opening another police case against him.

The couple had been dating since 2001 when the woman was a Grade 10 pupil and the man was in matric at the same school.

“I will not withdraw the case this time,” she said. “Women are abused all the time, I want to urge all women to come out and act against the abuse, because if you don’t, it can lead to your death,”she said.

 

Describing what happened on Wednesday, the woman said: “He saw me at the mall and asked me if our relationship was really over and that he wanted me back.

“I refused and told him I was tired of the abuse. Then he told me ‘perhaps it’s better if I just hurt you’,” said the woman, adding that he then took out a knife and stabbed her in the chest, back, on her hand and on her face.

“I screamed for security to help and they came running towards us, then he ran away and people started chasing him, and then I fell,” she said.

Netcare 911 spokesman, Chris Botha, said when paramedics attended to the woman she was in a serious condition after sustaining several stab wounds.

 

Police spokesman, Colonel Jay Naicker, confirmed the arrest of a 30-year-old man at the mall. - Daily News

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