Mbombela - An Mpumalanga woman convicted of assaulting teenagers who bullied her daughter walked free on a second charge on Monday.
Maria Mkhombo, 40, of Mangweni near the Swaziland and Mozambican border, had her case withdrawn when she appeared in the Tonga Magistrate's Court.
Mkhombo previously pleaded guilty to one count of common assault and pleaded not guilty to the other count, a Sapa correspondent reported.
Magistrate Hazel Khoza decided to withdraw the other charge after Mkhombo's daughter, Simangele Mbatsane, 14, testified how she was bullied on the day of the incident.
“Mkhombo, please go home and take care of your kids because I don't find you guilty on this charge,” said Khoza.
Mkhombo was previously found guilty after pleading guilty on the first count. Instead of being sentenced, she was given a warning not to assault children.
She was accused of assaulting two girls, aged 15 and 18.
She testified that she assaulted one of the two girls and grabbed the other one away from her daughter.
“She resisted when I was grabbing her and then she fell down when I released. That's when she reported to the police that she was also assaulted.
“This issue has been ongoing since 2011 when I started falling in love with their father. They always come to my house to insult me and throw stones,” she said during her trial.
Sapa